Belgian PM urges EU to negotiate with Russia
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called on the EU to negotiate directly with Moscow, arguing that diplomacy is the only viable path to ending the Ukraine conflict.
In an interview with the Belgian newspaper L’Echo published on Saturday, De Wever argued that the bloc had failed to force Moscow into retreat through military aid to Kiev or economic pressure alone. He warned that the EU would end up with a “bad agreement” if sidelined from negotiations.
“Since we are not capable of threatening [Russian President Vladimir] Putin by sending weapons to Ukraine, and we cannot choke him economically without the support of the US, there is only one method left: making a deal,” he told the outlet.
“Without a mandate to go and negotiate in Moscow, we are not at the negotiating table where the Americans will push Ukraine to accept a deal. And I can already say that it will be a bad agreement for us,” he added.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has long advocated for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, fully backed De Wever’s call, saying that “new voices of common sense are emerging in the EU who understand that the strategy of weakening Russia by supporting the war in Ukraine is not working.”
“If the EU as an institution asks for a mandate for peace negotiations, I would vote for it with all my heart,” Fico wrote in a post on Facebook on Saturday.
Last year, US President Donald Trump proposed a roadmap to peace, urging Ukraine to cede some territory to Russia. Kiev and its European backers rejected his reported 28-point plan as too favorable to Moscow. Brussels, which has committed around €195 billion to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict, has vowed to maintain pressure on Russia.
EU representatives were excluded from the US-brokered talks between Moscow and Kiev in Abu Dhabi and Geneva earlier this year.
De Wever has previously opposed EU proposals to confiscate frozen Russian sovereign assets held in Europe to back a €90 billion loan to Kiev, saying such a step could amount to a “declaration of war” against Moscow. After Axel Springer-owned Politico branded him “Russia’s most valuable asset,” the Belgian prime minister argued that a “real politician” should not be driven by emotions.
Belgium faces the biggest legal and financial risks, as the bulk of the Russian money – €185 billion ($216 billion) – is held in the Belgium-based clearing house Euroclear.
