Germany, France Seek EU Backing On Putin Summit Bid

Brussels, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jun, 2021 ) :Germany and France faced resistance from wary EU leaders on Thursday over a push to relaunch meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite concerns Moscow has not stopped its aggressive actions.

Berlin and Paris have put forward a last-minute proposal for the bloc to hold summits again with Putin in the wake of US President Joe Biden's sit-down with him in Geneva last week.

Moscow said Putin was a "supporter" of the idea, which would potentially revive a regular fixture that was frozen in 2014 after the takeover of Crimea by Russia.

"In my opinion, we as the European Union must also seek direct contact with Russia and the Russian president," Chancellor Angela Merkel told Germany's parliament ahead of the gathering of EU leaders in Brussels.

"It is not enough for the American president to talk to the Russian president," she said, stressing that the European Union too "must also create different formats for talks".

Merkel, who could be attending her last EU summit before German elections set for September, insisted that the 27-member bloc should meanwhile put up "a united front against the provocations" by Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that talking with Putin was "necessary for the stability of the European continent" but underscored that the bloc would be "demanding because we will not give up any of our values".

- 'Dangerous deviation' - But there is serious opposition from numerous EU member states -- especially in eastern Europe -- who were blindsided by the push and remain deeply wary of rewarding the Kremlin with talks before it changes course.

"The Kremlin understands power politics, the Kremlin does not understand free concessions as a sign of strength," Latvian Prime minister Krisjanis Karins said.

"The way it's proposed is that Russia annexes Crimea, Russia wages war in Donbass (east Ukraine), and Europe shrugs its shoulders and continues to try to speak a dialogue." Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda warned that Europe had to be "extremely cautious" over talking to Russia as it lacked Washington's muscle, but predicted that leaders would "find some solutions" over the proposals.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was not against the presidents of the European Commission and Council meeting with Putin, but refused to participate himself over Russia's failure to cooperate on the investigation into downed Malaysian airliner MH17.

Non-EU member Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, blasted the German-French effort as a "dangerous deviation from EU sanctions policy" after talks in Brussels with the bloc's foreign policy chief.

The EU is looking to revamp its strategy on keeping its vast eastern neighbour in check as Brussels admits that relations with the Kremlin look set to deteriorate further despite having already reached their "lowest level".

Moscow has been at loggerheads more recently with a number of Western capitals after a Russian troop build-up on Ukraine's borders and a series of espionage scandals that have resulted in diplomatic expulsions.