Europe's role: Laschet also calls for EU negotiators for Ukraine talks

Armin Laschet (2nd from right) supported Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni's demand for the appointment of an EU negotiator for talks on an end to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Milan/Rome. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Armin Laschet (CDU), has joined Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's call for a unified European voice in the Ukraine negotiations. "Prime Minister Meloni's proposal is very important. And it shows the entire lack of clarity and fragmentation of European foreign policy," Laschet told the Milan-based Italian newspaper "Corriere de la Sera".

Meloni wrote a letter to EU Council President António Costa with her proposal. “What I continue to demand is that it be decided once and for all who sits at the negotiating table on behalf of the European Union and with what mandate,” Meloni wrote.

The Italian head of government said in her letter that an “inconsistent approach with initiatives that chase and overlap each other” would “neither help Europe with our partners nor with those we need to convince to stop a senseless aggression.” Laschet agreed with her.

“I hope that Ms. Meloni’s suggestion will be taken up that a European representative be appointed who will then also be authorized to speak to Ukraine and Russia on behalf of the European Union.” So far, each EU member maintains its own diplomatic contacts, while “Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner, as American businessmen, talk about the future of Europe in Moscow,” Laschet complained.

Laschet kept a low profile on the question of who should speak for the Europeans. "I don't want to suggest any names. It could also be a person who is not active at the moment and who you commission," he told the newspaper. In any case, the decision must be made in the European Council led by Costa on December 17th and 18th.

Laschet called on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to move on this issue. “The Balts have always rejected all talks,” he criticized. However, the Baltic states and Poland are more skeptical about a unified approach to negotiations that could ignore their security interests. They fear that the Western European states could negotiate a compromise that is too positive for Moscow over the heads of the countries directly bordering Russia.