Albania's Rama says EU made 'big strategic mistake' cutting Russia ties

The European Union made a "big strategic mistake" by severing all communication with Russia after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told Politico in an interview published on Friday. The bloc intensified its sanctions pressure and cut off diplomatic engagement with Moscow in 2022, moving to back Kiev with hundreds of billions of dollars in financial and military aid. "Europe has to be always, always, always talking to everyone," Rama told Politico at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, arguing that the EU shot itself in the foot when it "cut every channel with Russia." The "more we postpone it, the less we'll have a say at the end, because Russia – however this war ends – Russia is not going anywhere," he said, adding that he was being frank because his country has no "dependence on Russia." Several EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, have recently made overtures about reengaging with Moscow. Some have expressed concern that Western Europe is being sidelined in the trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks, which kicked off following pressure from Washington last year. However, three rounds of negotiations have so far failed to bear fruit, with Ukraine rejecting key Russian demands. Both Moscow and Kiev have admitted that the talks are effectively frozen due to Washington's preoccupation with the war on Iran. Moscow has repeatedly nixed European nations' public demands to be admitted to the negotiations. The EU has already "completely discredited itself" as a mediator, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last month, rejecting French and British plans to deploy troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Kiev. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, European leaders deliberately make demands that they know are "utterly unacceptable to Russia" in order to sabotage US peace efforts and blame the collapse of the talks on Moscow.