Europe can’t ignore Russia forever, must work towards dialogue — expert

ROME, May 13. /TASS/. Europe needs to take into account the current situation regarding the Ukraine conflict and take specific steps to build dialogue with Russia, Bruno Scapini, former Italian ambassador to Armenia, journalist, and member of the Sovereign Popular Democracy responsible for foreign policy matters, told TASS. "At the very start of the special military operation - it was in Istanbul in 2022 - the parties were close to reaching an agreement on Ukraine. However, foreign interference by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron derailed the process," the expert said. "The Russian president’s readiness for talks was made clear from the very start but a continuation of the war and the West’s attempts to prolong it in order ‘to inflict a defeat’ on Russia forced Moscow to tighten its stance. As a result, it’s now only possible to launch dialogue if the new situation is taken into account by those who were responsible for disrupting dialogue at the very start - that is, by the Europeans," he added. According to Scapini, US President Donald Trump’s policy towards Ukraine and Russia could facilitate efforts to find a way out of the crisis but much will depend on how European leaders act. "Right now, we can see a big difference between the positions of the US and Europe, which has already led to tensions within NATO. The Europeans must realize the need to end the conflict and take a specific step towards dialogue. Russia’s conditions cannot be the same as they were in Istanbul in 2022; Russia’s demands have changed, and Europe must reckon with that," the analyst stressed. He went on to say that Europe needed to understand it could no longer support Ukraine, spending billions of euros, while European society was sinking deeper into a crisis of its own. "In Italy, key industries are being deprived of financing. The urgent needs of the people are put on the back burner for the sake of supporting Ukraine," he elaborated. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on May 9 that Moscow remained ready for talks with Europe. The Russian leader specified that he saw former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as the best choice for this kind of dialogue. Still, Putin said that the Europeans were free to choose "a leader they trust, provided the person has not spoken ill" of Russia.