Media: Latvian PM, Estonian president push EU envoy role in Russia-Ukraine talks

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Estonian President Alar Karis have backed appointing an EU special envoy to join negotiations with the Kremlin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, signalling a shift in Europe’s strategic approach as U.S.-led diplomacy gains momentum.

Speaking separately to Euronews on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai, the two leaders argued that the EU should play a direct role in ongoing peace efforts after largely being excluded from negotiations spearheaded by Washington.

The renewed push comes after French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that preliminary work had begun “at the technical level” to establish such a role, an initiative also supported by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Although the proposal surfaced last summer, it failed to gain majority backing among European leaders at the time.

Siliņa stressed that any diplomatic outreach to Moscow must be closely coordinated with Kyiv and should involve a widely accepted European figure.

"I think you need to engage in diplomacy. You always need to talk, but we need to isolate and still have sanctions on Russia," Siliņa said in an interview with Euronews.

"We have to be at the negotiation table because Ukrainians themselves have started to negotiate. So why should Europeans not negotiate?"

Siliņa suggested that prominent leaders such as Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer could serve as potential representatives, despite Merz’s strong opposition to direct talks with Moscow.

"Yes, we really need an envoy. Probably the question is who it will be. And I think we have many options," Siliņa added.

"I'm ready to go if it's needed, but I think (that) European leaders from Germany or France, as well as the UK, which is a member of the 'Coalition of Willing', should be the ones who are actually at the table together with Americans, helping Ukraine to be in those very tough negotiations."

Karis also backed the concept but declined to propose specific candidates, emphasising the need for a representative from a major European power who could command trust from both sides.

"The European Union should be involved in these discussions as well. Although we are not fighting with Russia directly, we have been supporting Ukraine for so many years already and continue to do so," Karis said.

"We should have a say as well, but you see, we are a bit late. We should have started it, maybe not President Trump, but maybe the European Union, to start also finding diplomatic solutions to this."

"A couple of years ago, we were in a position that we didn't talk with aggressors, and now we're worried that we are not (at) the table."

The debate over re-establishing diplomatic channels with Russia — largely severed following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — has intensified in recent weeks as negotiations led by the United States accelerate and discussions around long-term security guarantees for Ukraine advance.

Several EU members, including France, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, have supported launching direct engagement with Moscow to reduce reliance on Washington as the primary negotiating intermediary.

Germany, however, has rejected the approach, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued military strikes on Ukrainian cities and what Berlin describes as the Kremlin’s “maximalist demands” as evidence that Moscow is not genuinely committed to negotiations.

Estonia’s foreign ministry echoed those concerns in a statement to Euronews, warning against premature diplomatic re-engagement.

"As long as Russia has not changed its actions and objectives in its aggression against Ukraine, it is not possible to engage in talks with Russia, nor should we offer it a way out of isolation," a Estonian spokesperson said. "We must not repeat mistakes made time and again by restoring relations when Russia has not changed course."

The European Commission, navigating divisions among member states, has urged Putin to demonstrate a serious commitment to peace before any formal diplomatic reopening. The Commission declined to comment on Macron’s reference to technical preparations for an envoy role.

Meanwhile, the EU executive is expected to present a new package of sanctions against Russia in the coming days, underscoring the bloc’s continued effort to balance diplomatic exploration with economic pressure on Moscow.

By Aghakazim Guliyev