EU acknowledges that negotiations with Putin will be necessary "at some point"
Negotiations involving Russian leader Vladimir Putin will have to take place at a certain stage of the peace process in Ukraine, and the EU will also participate.
As reported by a European Pravda correspondent, the European Commission believes negotiations with Putin are inevitable, but he currently has no intention of engaging in them.
"We're working very hard for peace in Ukraine," Pinho said. "Now, peace in Ukraine depends on one single person. That person is, as you know very well, President Putin. So obviously, at some point, there will have to be talks also with President Putin," Paula Pinho, Chief Spokesperson for the European Commission, said during a conversation with journalists in Brussels. [N.B. European Pravda doesn't recognise Putin as president – ed.]
Meanwhile, she stressed that "a lot of work is being done" in this direction.
"Unfortunately, we're not seeing any signs from President Putin to be engaging in such talks. So, we're not there yet. But at some point, we would hope, indeed, that there will be such talks that will finally lead to peace in Ukraine," Pinho emphasised.
Pinho added that the EU is also concerned because "it's also our security that is at stake, because Ukraine is, as we see it, part of our Europe".
On 11 January, US President Donald Trump said he is willing to take on commitments for US support of Ukraine's future defence, but only because he is confident Russia will not attempt another invasion.
Following talks in Paris with the US side, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the document on security guarantees is "effectively ready" to be agreed with Trump.
On 7 January, a Ukrainian delegation held meetings with the US team in Paris.
On 6 January, a Coalition of the Willing meeting took place in Paris with Zelenskyy attending in person. After the meeting, the Ukrainian president said that responses had been received on many aspects of European guarantees, including the deployment of a deterrent contingent.