Should Europe mediate Russia-Ukraine talks? |
The worst job in the world is to try negotiating with President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine to everyone’s satisfaction.
Yet European leaders want to do just that. Frustrated by the failure of the Trump administration to negotiate anything of value with Putin, Europe is scurrying around looking for the ideal candidate to confront the Russian leader across the table and bash out a peace deal.
It’s a fantasy world, of course. If Putin obstructed Trump, his old sparring partner, and never remotely got close to a deal with the Americans, why would he consider sitting down with some European leader, or ex-leader, to bring the four-year war to an end?
Indeed, why would Trump be happy to hand over the poisoned chalice to a European at a time when he has little affection for anything Europe and has been dismissive of the Transatlantic alliance following his go-it-alone (alongside Israel) war with Iran?
European Union foreign ministers have been discussing the potential for diplomatic intervention vis-à-vis the war in Ukraine at an informal meeting in Cyprus this week. Already, alarm bells are ringing about the need first to formulate a policy approach toward Russia before anointing an individual to be the EU chief negotiator.
The renewed interest in Europe taking over the diplomatic efforts to forge an........