leaders divided over new talks despite Biden-Putin summit

LONDON — France and Germany’s plans to restart talks with Russia have failed, as a number of other EU leaders remain skeptical about re-engaging with the Kremlin.

U.S. President Joe Biden met with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin last week despite their outstanding differences. Now, the German and French leaders would like to follow suit.

However, several EU leaders, notably from the Baltic Nations, which are closest to Russia geographically, do not believe there has been any change in behavior from Moscow that warrants new talks between the two sides.

Speaking on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the idea was not to offer concessions to Moscow, but simply to have a dialogue. The bloc would not “surrender” its values or interests, he said.

But the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, said Friday: “It’s too early because, so far, we don’t see any radical changes in behavior from Putin.”

The 27 EU leaders need to unanimously agree on restarting talks with Russia for such a meeting to take place.

The EU’s relationship with Russia has deteriorated since 2014 when the Kremlin annexed Crimea — something European leaders severely opposed.

Tensions have escalated since, in particular in February when the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, travelled to Russia and stood quiet while Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov called the EU an “unreliable partner.”

“We remember the visit to Moscow and the outcome was not that positive for the European Union,” Kaja Kallas, prime minister of Estonia, said on Thursday when arriving in Brussels for the European Summit of EU leaders.

Instead of re-engaging with Russia, EU leaders agreed in Brussels to lay out demands for the Kremlin before organizing high-level talks.

“The European Council expects the Russian leadership to demonstrate a more constructive engagement and political commitment and stop actions against the EU and its Member States, as well as against third countries,” the 27 leaders said in a joint statement after their first day of talks in Brussels.

“The European Council calls on Russia to fully assume its responsibility in ensuring the full implementation of the Minsk agreements as the key condition for any substantial change in the EU’s stance,” they added.

The Minsk agreement refers to a deal put together by France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia, initially in 2015, designed to bring about a ceasefire in the eastern parts of Ukraine and an overall de-escalation of tensions. Instead, NATO said last week that Russia had intensified its activities in the region.

As such, the EU leaders said the executive arm of the EU, should “present options for additional restrictive measures, including economic sanctions” in case Russia presses ahead with “further maligns, illegal and disruptive activity.”

“We couldn’t agree on a basis to organize a meeting on a leadership-level, but it’s important to me that we maintain a dialogue and develop it going forward. Personally, I would have liked to see more courageous steps taken, but this is also good, and we will continue to work on it,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday morning.