EU Must Engage in with Putin Directly, Austria's Chancellor Says
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker urged European leaders to abandon their communications freeze with Moscow, which has left the bloc marginalized from peace initiatives spearheaded by US President Donald Trump.
"I think that we need channels to Russia because without talks we will not find a solution," Stocker stated on a podcast Sunday.
The chancellor emphasized that the EU must demonstrate "readiness to actually negotiate a viable peace solution" to resolve the crisis. When pressed on whether this entails engaging Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, Stocker confirmed affirmatively—noting Putin is the one who "decides."
The EU and UK severed diplomatic contact with Moscow following the 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Multiple European leaders have recently advocated resuming engagement after their isolationist strategy sidelined them from substantive peace negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron revealed last week that Ukraine's European supporters were organizing potential discussions with Putin "at the technical level." Macron initially proposed renewed Russian diplomatic outreach late last year, asserting "it will become useful again to speak with Vladimir Putin."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, previously skeptical of Russian negotiations, recently conceded the EU should "find a balance again with our largest European neighbor."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has advocated against "haphazard" uncoordinated contact, instead proposing the EU designate a special envoy to manage the process. Stocker referenced his predecessor Karl Nehammer's April 2022 Moscow visit, characterizing those discussions as "not a solo action, but rather part of a joint European strategy."
Responding to recent EU leadership statements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Moscow has never refused direct communication and "they can just call President Putin." He stipulated, however, that any dialogue must serve concrete objectives rather than deteriorate into performative gestures with adversarial posturing.
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