Kremlin welcomes 'lively discussion' in Europe about resuming dialogue with Russia, but points to man it doesn't want in negotiations: 'It's in its own interest'
The Russian president's spokesman said Moscow sees a “lively discussion” in Europe about the possibility of resuming dialogue with Russia and that is “a good thing,” but suggested Moscow does not want the EU's foreign minister as a negotiator, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Sunday.
In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, Dmitry Peskov stated that “this animated discussion” about the resumption of dialogue with Moscow and “the change in mentality in the sense that “at some point we will have to talk with the Russians” are a good thing.”
On the other hand, the representative of the Kremlin said that the head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, should not be the one negotiating with Moscow. The Russian official claims that “it is in her interest”.
“It is in the interest of Kaja Kallas not to be a negotiator. It will not be easy for him. If you remember, Putin said that, in principle, it could be anyone who did not manage to say a lot of bad things,” Peskov added.
Kallas had ruled out Putin's preferred option
After the Financial Times wrote that European Union leaders were preparing for possible talks with Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked if he was willing to hold talks with the Europeans. In response, he pointed to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as Moscow's preferred interlocutor for such a dialogue.
“For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Schroeder, is preferable,” Putin said, quoted by AFP and Reuters.
The possibility of Gerhard Schroeder being appointed as negotiator of the EU bloc was categorically rejected by the head of EU diplomacy.
“First of all, if we give Russia the right to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, that would not be very wise. Second, I think Gerhard Schröder was basically a high-level lobbyist for Russian state companies,” Kallas said, as quoted by Euronews.com.
Putin prefers Schroeder, Kallas added, because that way the Russian president “would basically sit on both sides of the table.”
