There is a split in the EU over negotiations with Russia - POLITICO

There has been a serious split among EU countries over who should negotiate with Russia and when, POLITICO reports.

In particular, French and German leaders Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz opposed negotiations between the office of European Council President Antonio Costa and the Kremlin.

Criticism of Costa's office " has put the leaders of Europe's two largest countries at odds with much of the rest of the bloc ," the newspaper writes.

According to journalists, the head of the staff of the head of the European Council contacted senior officials in Moscow twice in the past few weeks.

At the same time, Costa’s office said that the contacts were “ brief ” and “ their only purpose was to establish a communication channel so that, when the time comes, to have a diplomatic channel with Russia to protect the interests of the EU .”

Macron and Merz believe that now is not the time to talk to the Kremlin, and when the time comes, France, Germany and the UK should take the initiative in the negotiations.

According to the publication, the leaders of some of the " most ardent anti-Russian countries ", as well as Denmark and the Netherlands, supported Macron and Merz. At the same time, some “ showed unprecedented rage ” towards Costa’s actions.

At the same time, " a huge number " of other EU leaders supported Costa, saying it was the EU's role to negotiate with Russia.