As European leaders begin to consider the possibility of talks with President Vladimir V. Putin\u2019s government over ending Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, they have begun to debate a big question: Should they pick an envoy to talk with Mr. Putin?<\/p>\n
But before that, they are trying to wrangle an even more fundamental one. How would they go about negotiations?<\/p>\n
Foreign affairs officials from around the 27-nation European Union are expected to weigh the possibility of discussions with Russia next week at a meeting in Cyprus \u2014 including what talks might focus on and what red lines Europe would maintain.<\/p>\n
They are not expected to settle definitively on an official envoy at the meeting, according to three diplomats and two officials speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. Still, the idea of picking either one person or a small group to liaise with the Kremlin could come up.<\/p>\n
What is remarkable \u2014 and a major shift in recent weeks \u2014 is that the possibility of talking to Russia is even on the table.<\/p>\n
European nations suspended most political contact with Russia after the nation\u2019s full-scale invasion<\/a> of Ukraine in 2022, and have long said the time wasn\u2019t right to speak with Mr. Putin because he wasn\u2019t serious about ending the war.<\/p>\n Maintaining that policy has become increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n American negotiators have been working toward some sort of peace plan for months, but progress has been halting as they have faced repeated distractions, most recently amid the joint Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, Europeans have lacked a seat at the table during critical discussions, and so have had little reassurance that their American counterparts are negotiating with their interests at heart.<\/p>\n Given that, European leaders are considering ways to talk to Moscow to make sure that any peace deal to end the war in Ukraine is an agreement that both Kyiv and the continent as a whole can live with. Increasingly, they seem to think that to exert more influence, they may need to speak with one voice during future negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about the fundamental lack of trust and lack of confidence that Europe has in the United States,\u201d said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm.<\/p>\n Ant\u00f3nio Costa, the president of the European Union\u2019s political arm, helped to kick off the scramble for a European envoy when he said publicly<\/a> on May 7 that he was \u201ctalking with the leaders to see the best way to organize ourselves\u201d for when \u201cthe right moment\u201d to talk with Russia arrives.<\/p>\n Mr. Costa said Europe should not \u201cdisturb\u201d the U.S.-led peace process, but noted that he and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had been talking about a European presence in discussions with Russia.<\/p>\n Then, on May 14, President Alexander Stubb of Finland said in an interview<\/a> with a Lithuanian broadcaster that the time was \u201capproaching\u201d for Europe to be directly involved in the negotiations, because Russia was experiencing setbacks on the battlefield.<\/p>\n Also, Mr. Stubb said, \u201cIf you\u2019re not around the table, you\u2019re going to be eaten on that table. I think it\u2019s better to engage in some kind of dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Zelensky has since affirmed that he and Mr. Costa have talked about the need for a specific envoy.<\/p>\n \u201cEurope must be involved in the negotiations,\u201d Mr. Zelensky wrote on Facebook<\/a> earlier this week. \u201cIt is important for it to have a strong voice and presence in this process, and it is worth determining who will represent Europe specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kremlin has officially maintained that it is open to negotiations with any nation regarding the conflict in Ukraine. But there was long a strain of thought in Moscow that any real negotiations must be held with Washington.<\/p>\n Recently, conditions have shifted. Progress on U.S.-led Ukraine talks has stagnated. Washington is more focused on the Middle East and other issues. And Europe is by far Kyiv\u2019s biggest funder, especially as it funnels a 90-billion euro ($105 billion) loan toward Ukraine to support its continued war effort.<\/p>\n Moscow has suggested that it is open to talks with a European representative.<\/p>\n \u201cLet the Europeans choose a leader whom they trust, and who hasn\u2019t spouted any nasty remarks at us,\u201d Mr. Putin said at a news conference in early May.<\/p>\n Europe now has more influence over Ukraine than Washington does, said Konstantin V. Remchukov, a Moscow newspaper editor with Kremlin connections, who said in an interview that is what explains Russia\u2019s openness to negotiating with Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are influential people that believe the conflict must be brought to a close by the end of the year,\u201d Mr. Remchukov said. \u201cHowever, you cannot simply end the conflict just like that, because Ukraine is currently \u2014 more than ever \u2014 under the guardianship of Western Europe, specifically Germany and Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n Some in Russia continue to argue against negotiating with Europe. Vadim Poegli, a columnist at Moskovsky Komsomolets, a pro-government tabloid, wrote this week that Europeans are only interested in talking to the Kremlin because they believe Russia is going through a moment of vulnerability.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can only be convinced otherwise on the battlefield,\u201d he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nor are all European leaders convinced that opening talks with Russia would be simple.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia\u2019s attitude is this: That what we do not gain on the military field, we will come behind the table and demand,\u201d Kristen Michal, Estonia\u2019s prime minister, said in a May 9 interview in Narva, just across the border from Russia.<\/p>\n Even though big uncertainties remain about whether Europe will pick an interlocutor and how Russia would engage with one, early guessing abounds at who that person might be.<\/p>\n Mr. Costa, who already holds a key political leadership role at the European level, is one option that has appeared in news reports in recent weeks. Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank chief, is also frequently raised<\/a>, as is Angela Merkel<\/a>, the ex-German chancellor, and Mr. Stubb.<\/p>\n The European diplomats and officials who spoke on condition of anonymity have noted that any discussions on the matter are in their infancy, and that any names floating around are largely speculative. <\/p>\n Mr. Putin said earlier this month that Gerhard Schr\u00f6der, a former German chancellor, could represent the European view. European leaders roundly dismissed that idea on account of Mr. Schr\u00f6der\u2019s closeness to the Kremlin. It is likely no accident that Mr. Putin, who speaks German and was stationed in East Germany during his time in the K.G.B., would suggest someone from Germany, which has become Ukraine\u2019s biggest backer in Europe.<\/p>\n Kaja Kallas, the European Union\u2019s top diplomat and a native of Estonia, called Mr. Schr\u00f6der a \u201chigh-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies.\u201d<\/p>\n She seemed to suggest herself for the position at a recent news conference, saying, \u201cI think I could see through the traps that Russia is presenting.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Kallas would normally be a natural choice for the job as she is the European Union\u2019s top foreign affairs official. But she is seen as so stridently anti-Russian by the Kremlin that Moscow might quickly reject her.<\/p>\n