Tusk pointed to the European Union's fear of losing to Russia in the negotiations on Ukraine

The European Union (EU) does not want to initiate negotiations with Russia on a settlement in Ukraine for fear of being in a losing position. This was announced on June 19 by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk after the completion of the unification summit.

"It is known that whoever asks for negotiations is in an initially losing position," he told reporters.

The Polish Prime Minister added that, based on this, none of the European leaders convinces their colleagues to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a proposal to start a dialogue.

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On the same day, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, avoided giving a direct answer to a question she received about the EU's potential readiness for negotiations with Moscow. She acknowledged that there were indeed such calls, and then abruptly changed the subject, calling it "necessary" to determine the requirements for the Russian side in a timely manner.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to Europe's predisposition to negotiate with Russia "from a position of strength." He called this approach misleading and the "biggest mistake" of the country's potential interlocutors.