António Costa Wants EU Back Channel to Russia. Friedrich Merz Sabotages It

El Pais

Lean Left

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Europe is preparing for a scenario where it has to speak directly to Russia even though the war against Ukraine continues. And it has already opened a channel of communication for this. For the first time since 2022, when Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on a large scale and Europe broke contact with Moscow and intensified sanctions, the Union has taken a significant step. Amid the debate on telephoning Moscow, about when an…

freitag.de

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Finally, a professional diplomat is conducting diplomacy for the EU: President of the Council António Costa is working on a channel of conversation to Russia. Uninformed foreign policymakers criticize him and rely on the "new strength of Ukraine" – among them the Chancellor Louis Berger – not Otto von Bismarck – coined the saying in 1879: "There is never so much lying as before the election, during the war and after the hunt. The war is the moth…