There are fresh concerns in Europe that U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine may not be as easy to disrupt as previously, giving rise to the realization that the ‘never speak with Moscow’ line may have to give way to the line, ‘we have to talk with Moscow or be cut out.’ Politico cited Czech President Petr Pavel saying that the EU should “identify a person or a group of people who would speak for Europe. Not necessarily representatives of the EU or NATO, but simply leaders who would be given a mandate by the others to negotiate.” However, the leaders can’t be the ones who have been leading the pack: “President Putin disregards the European Union as an authority. He doesn’t want to talk to Ursula von der Leyen, he doesn’t talk to Kaja Kallas. He stopped talking to other European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron.”

Politico summarized: “In recent days, Trump has dismayed Ukraine and its European allies by talking over their heads with Putin. That has reignited debate in Brussels and beyond about the need for Europe to have its own direct line to the Kremlin to safeguard the region’s interests and bolster Ukraine’s ability to resist a lopsided deal.” They turned to David Lidington, a distinguished fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, to provide the characteristic ‘stiff-upper-lip’ comment: “Much as it sticks in the craw, I do think a channel of some kind to Putin would be a good thing to have. I am not optimistic that it would achieve anything much in the short term, but to have a channel which can then be used as and when an opportunity arises is not a bad thing.”

Politico goes on to cite four different unnamed EU diplomats, basically on the need to promote someone who is not von der Leyen, Kallas, Macron et al., in a rebranding exercise.