The leaders of the three EU countries supported the dialogue with Russia on Ukraine

The Presidents of Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic, Peter Pellegrini, Alexander van der Bellen and Peter Pavel, supported the establishment of a dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Pellegrini announced this on May 12 at a meeting in the Slavkov format.

"We talked about the military conflict in Ukraine and the need to start a discussion with Russia at the European level. We cannot wait until only the United States conducts the discussion on ending the conflict," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

The Slovak leader also supported the view that it is necessary to find an EU representative to talk with Moscow. In his opinion, this may not be an easy task, but otherwise Europe will remain only a passive observer of the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

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On the same day, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper also stated that the EU should appoint a negotiator for dialogue with Russia as soon as possible, as it rejected the candidacy of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

On May 9, Putin named Schroeder as Europe's preferred negotiator for contacts with Moscow. The German radio station Deutschlandfunk reported on May 10 that Germany rejected Moscow's attempt to use Schroeder as an intermediary.