EU says won’t be ‘neutral mediator’ between Ukraine and Russia

LIMASSOL, Cyprus: The EU’s top diplomat on Thursday (May 28) ruled out Europe acting as a “neutral mediator” between Ukraine and Russia, after foreign ministers from the bloc’s 27 countries debated their terms for possible talks with Moscow.

Discussions on re-engaging with Moscow have become louder amid deadlocked US efforts to halt the war in Ukraine while US President Donald Trump’s attention has been consumed by Iran.

Ukraine has pushed for Europe – sidelined until now by Washington – to play a bigger role and suggested nominating a representative for talks.

“Europe will never be a neutral mediator between Russia and Ukraine, because we are on Ukraine’s side and we are defending our own core security interests,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists in Cyprus.

“We can’t be neutral treating them equally.”

Earlier Kallas warned that focusing on who would talk for Europe was a Russian “trap” – as she pushed for the bloc to concentrate on setting clear red lines. 

Speculation over potential envoys has picked up, with Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his long-time ally, could fit the bill. The idea has been roundly rejected in Europe.

Some ministers in Cyprus pushed to designate a representative – including Austria’s Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who argued that “this is very much what Ukraine expects: that the EU should now get ready.”

Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen said her country’s president Alexander Stubb could be a good option, while Luxembourg’s top diplomat Xavier Bettel said he would float the name of ex-EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

Kallas said after the meeting that the “broad consensus” among the ministers was to work through the EU’s institutions.