European leaders are considering reopening a direct line of dialogue with Russia, ending an effective four-year diplomatic silence in a bid to avoid being sidelined in talks to end the Ukraine war.
Resuming top level contacts with Moscow would be a significant shift and a signal that Europe fears it will be cut out of talks that have major implications for the security of the Continent.
The European Union is expected to push for a greater input into the negotiations between the US, Russia and Ukraine, after the bloc’s 27 leaders agreed to finance a €90 billion loan to Kyiv at a summit in Brussels.
Privately, there is concern at the highest levels of European politics that Washington and Moscow may agree a deal and put pressure on Kyiv to accept it.
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French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Europe will have to re-engage in direct talks with Moscow if the latest US-led efforts to broker a Ukraine peace deal founder.
“Either a robust and lasting peace is reached, with the required [security] guarantees, or we will need in the weeks ahead to find ways for Europeans to re-engage in a fulsome dialogue with Russia, and in complete transparency,” he said.
Mr Macron said the EU could not deprive itself of a direct line to Moscow if Trump’s administration had one.
Separately, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said a scenario where Ukraine “falls” would leave the EU “at risk” of an emboldened Russia seeking to undermine the “sovereignty” of the union’s member states.
“That’s a real concern which may not be as appreciated in Ireland,” Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach was speaking a day after EU leaders agreed to use the union’s budget to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine.
Internal analysis projected Kyiv would run short of funds from April 2026 without financial aid.
Speaking in Brussels on Friday, Mr Martin said EU leaders leaving the summit without an agreement would have meant “the capitulation of Ukraine”.
An original plan to back the loan against sanctioned Russian central bank assets, frozen in EU financial institutions, failed to clear legal and political objections. Instead, following hours of negotiations, the summit settled on the EU borrowing the money.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is under pressure from the US to cede territory in the east to Russia as part of a proposed truce. The Ukrainian leader has been pushing for assurances the US would agree to deter any future Russian invasion and guarantee Ukraine’s security in the event of a peace deal.
Political dialogue between Moscow and EU states has largely been cut off since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, triggering the deadliest conflict on the Continent since the second World War.
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[ Putin says Russian forces will continue to advance in UkraineOpens in new window ]
Senior US officials are due to host a Ukrainian and Russian delegation, separately, in Miami this weekend for further talks.
Russian president Vladimir Putin offered no compromise on Friday on his terms for ending the war in Ukraine, saying the onus was on Ukraine and Europe to make the next move.
Commenting on the new EU loan to finance Ukraine, Mr Martin said: “We hope for peace, this is the price of war.”
He added: “Ukraine will not have to repay the loan until Russia pays reparations and facilitates the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
