EU mulls Angela Merkel or Mario Draghi as possible Vladimir Putin whisperer

EU governments are discussing whether former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi or ex-chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel could represent the bloc in potential negotiations with Vladimir Putin, as momentum gathers to reopen formal channels with Russia.

Foreign ministers will discuss the merits of possible candidates at an EU meeting in Cyprus next week after Washington and Kyiv expressed support for Europe to engage with Russia’s president over the war in Ukraine, said people briefed on the discussions.

Donald Trump’s administration, currently distracted by its own war in the Middle East, has informed EU counterparts that it is not opposed to Europe talking to Putin in parallel to US-led peace talks, three of the people said.

“They know it’s not working,” said one, referring to existing efforts to end the conflict.

Brussels shut off formal communication channels with Moscow following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, aside from sporadic outreach attempts by some EU leaders.

But the bloc now fears that lack of progress in the US-led talks — mainly because of the Russian leader’s unyielding territorial demands, which Kyiv has rejected — has left Europe sidelined and vulnerable to a deal on unfavourable terms.

That has prompted increasing discussion over appointing a joint envoy, notwithstanding deep divisions between states about the feasibility and scope of such a task, as well as scepticism about Putin being amenable to the approach.

In addition to Draghi and Merkel, other governments have proposed Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and his predecessor, Sauli Niinistö, as possible appointees, the people said.

European Council president António Costa, who represents the EU’s 27 national leaders, this month said the bloc was preparing for “potential” talks with Putin.

Discussions between capitals on the issue are taking place at various levels, a person briefed on the talks said, with the possibility of formal talks among EU leaders at a summit in June.

“We both agree that Europe must be involved in the negotiations,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after a telephone call with Costa on Sunday. “It is important for it to have a strong voice and presence in this process, and it is worth determining who will represent Europe specifically.”

Zelenskyy on Tuesday said he had met his foreign minister to discuss negotiations with Russia “and Europe’s possible representation in this process”.

“We expect Europe to be strong, and for our part, we are doing everything to ensure that pan-European positions and interests are taken into account, just as Ukraine’s are,” Zelenskyy said.

A senior Ukrainian official said Zelenskyy would want “someone like Draghi” or a “strong, current [state] leader” to lead the European side in talks with Russia. Zelenskyy is expected to discuss the matter with leaders of France, Germany and the UK later this week, the official said.

Draghi is seen as a safe pair of hands and respected across the EU, with a technocratic background that could suit the situation, the people said.

A spokesperson for Draghi declined to comment. A spokesperson for Merkel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speaking at a conference on Monday, Merkel expressed regret that Europe was not included in negotiations with Putin. She also said that while underestimating Russia’s leader “would be a mistake”, it would also be wrong to underplay Europe’s “own capabilities”.

When asked if she would step in, the former chancellor said others were probably better suited, noting that Putin would only take acting leaders seriously.

When asked about Merkel separately on Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said EU partners were “discussing this issue in depth” and refused to comment on individual names.

Merkel has long been a political rival of the current chancellor, with some fellow Christian Democrats criticising her for deepening Germany’s energy dependence on Russia during her tenure. One CDU lawmaker called the idea of using her as a negotiator “nonsensical”.

One senior European official said that while Niinistö “is one of the few Europeans to have a working relationship with Putin . . . Russians are very upset with Finland at present”. The Nordic country abandoned its neutral stance and joined Nato in response to the war in Ukraine.

“I think it would have to be somebody from a country like the Netherlands or Portugal who doesn’t have the baggage that countries in the east have,” the official added.

The EU foreign ministers’ meeting will also include discussions on what Europe would demand in a post-conflict relationship with Russia, what red lines they have for a potential settlement in Ukraine, and what their prerequisites would be for opening any discussions with the Kremlin, the people added.

Putin has said he is open to talks with a European representative on the condition that the envoy has “not said all sorts of nasty things” about us. He floated his old friend and Merkel’s predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, who has been roundly rejected by the Europeans and by Kyiv.

Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s spokesperson, last week praised the European efforts to open a line with Moscow last week.

“We will hope that a practical approach will win out and it has some kind of real-world impact,” Peskov said. “Putin is just a phone call away for European countries.”

Some governments are dismayed by the debate itself, and fear that it will only expose EU divisions over Ukraine and Russia.

“This is not something you discuss in public before doing it,” said one EU diplomat.

Ukraine wants Europe to push Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire that would freeze the current front lines, according to a senior European official.

But Russia bluntly rejected an entreaty from French officials in February. “They were humiliated,” the European official said.

Russia has signalled it would be more open to a more “constructive” European message, according to people in Moscow involved in back-channel talks.

But the Europeans “still aren’t saying anything worthwhile. It’s all slogans like ‘we support a fair peace for Ukraine’,” one of the people said.

Moscow may prefer talking to a major European power directly rather than the bloc as a whole, the person added, because “as the Europeans admit, their joint position would suck because they would pander to the marginal countries to keep European unity”.

Additional reporting by Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Berlin