EU Leaders Fail to Agree on a Summit with Russia

Instead, they warned of further sanctions against Moscow. EU leaders have failed to reach an agreement on the proposal of France and Germany to hold a summit soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The idea was rejected after Poland and the Baltic states said it would send the wrong signal amid deteriorating East-West relations. After US President Joe Biden met with Putin in Geneva on June 16, French President Emmanuel Macron said that an EU summit with Putin would be a "dialogue to protect European interests." He insisted that the European Union cannot adhere to an exclusively reactive approach in diplomatic interactions with Russia. However, following the talks in Brussels, 27 EU leaders were never able to reach an agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early Friday morning. “It was a very detailed and tough discussion,” she told reporters. "Today, no agreement was reached on an early meeting of the leaders." EU-Russia summits have ended after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014 and the West imposed sanctions. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he supported the French and German proposal, but many other leaders opposed it. After the meeting, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that the decision not to change the approach to Russia was "the common position of many leaders." Earlier, he compared the idea of ​​the summit to an attempt to "make contact with a bear to save a pot of honey." Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said a summit with the EU would be an encouragement for Moscow, while diplomacy failed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine with Russian-backed separatists. Instead, EU leaders have reverted to a familiar stance, warning of new sanctions on Russia if it continues with disinformation, cyberattacks, covert operations and interference in an effort to sow discord within the bloc. In a statement following the summit, the leaders called on the European Commission and the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, to "present options for additional restrictive measures, including economic sanctions" against Russia. Earlier, the European Union has already imposed sanctions on the energy, financial and arms sectors of Russia, as well as targeted sanctions against Russians accused of human rights violations and the use of banned chemical weapons. Diplomats believe further sanctions could target money laundering in Russia or powerful oligarchs suspected of serious corruption abroad. France and Germany want to be able to work with Russia to combat climate change and find ways to stabilize relations. According to Merkel, even without the summit "formats will be studied ... in which it will be possible to start dialogues." Nauseda warned, “We must be extremely careful. This is not the same as Russia's relationship with the United States.” The Kremlin has previously welcomed the summit idea, saying both Brussels and Moscow need dialogue, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he would like more information.