EU considers Merkel and Draghi as candidates for role of negotiator with Russia

Foreign ministers of European Union countries will discuss potential candidates for the role of EU negotiator with Russia at a meeting in Cyprus next week.

This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.

According to the publication, two candidates are being considered in the EU: former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The newspaper’s sources claim that the US presidential administration has allegedly informed its EU counterparts that it has no objections to parallel EU negotiations with Russia — running alongside Washington’s talks with Moscow on settling the conflict in Ukraine.

An unnamed senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would like to see “someone like Draghi” or “a strong acting leader” in that role. According to the publication, the Ukrainian leader is expected to discuss the matter with the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom later this week.

A representative of Draghi has already responded to the reports that have emerged, describing the rumors about the former prime minister’s candidacy as a negotiator with Russia as journalistic speculation.