LONDON, October 22. /TASS/. Five national leaders are currently being considered as candidates to represent Europe during negotiations with Russia on Ukraine, The Daily Telegraph wrote citing sources.
The list of contenders comprises Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Czech President Petr Pavel, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
The report says European Council President Antonio Costa has turned down the proposal.
The newspaper wrote that discussions about the need for dialogue with Russia intensified in recent months because European leaders think that US President Donald Trump no longer represents Europe’s best interests.
"What Europe has learned is that there first needs to be a consensus that we need to negotiate with the Russians," the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the discussions as saying. "Secondly, there needs to be a consensus on what that position is."
Another source told The Daily Telegraph that "a group of leaders was more likely to be chosen" for negotiations with Russia, "avoiding a contest between countries for the role and the risk of individual candidates being vetoed."
Moscow has repeatedly declared its readiness to negotiate European security framework with European leaders, taking into account the interests of both sides.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Vesti journalist Pavel Zarubin in an interview earlier in the day that discussions on ensuring the future security of Ukraine and Russia would naturally have to address the European security architecture as well. Moscow will monitor the situation in the coming days ahead of Russia-US-Ukraine talks expected to take place in November, he added.