About 10 EU Countries Reject Idea Of Holding Summit With Putin - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2021) About 10 EU member states have voiced their opposition to the initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron to hold a summit between EU leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Bloomberg news agency reported citing its diplomatic sources.

On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported citing diplomatic sources that Merkel and Macron wanted the European Union to consider inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit of European leaders. Germany and France have also reportedly called for the development of a new EU strategy for closer engagement with Russia to develop discussions with Moscow after the Russian-US summit in Geneva.

According to Bloomberg's source, some 10 countries feel uncomfortable either with the idea itself or with the fact it was put into the agenda of the current meeting at the last minute.

A draft document of the current EU Summit says that the EU leaders "will review the existing formats of dialogue with Russia, including at leaders' level," but this phrase is in square brackets, which means that the text has not been agreed on yet.