Pedro Lourtie is one of the most influential diplomats in European institutions, although his name is little known to the general public. As the chief of staff of the President of the European Council, António Costa, his mission is to negotiate behind-the-scenes compromises between the 27 member states before European leaders gather in Brussels. However, in recent weeks, attention has shifted to him for another reason: the opening of a discreet communication channel with Moscow.
According to Politico, at the request of António Costa, Lourtie had two phone conversations with Yuri Ushakov, the main foreign policy advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is the first confirmed diplomatic contact between the institutions of the European Union and the Kremlin since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine.
The contacts took place before the European Council summit on June 18, and their disclosure changed the agenda of the meeting. Instead of the discussions focusing exclusively on trade relations with China and other European files, several member states asked for explanations about the initiative, Politico reports.
The calls to the Kremlin have caused discontent
European officials quoted by Politico maintain that the discussions with Moscow did not focus on negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine or the easing of sanctions, but only on establishing a communication channel that could be used in the future to defend the interests of the European Union.
“The contacts made at this moment had only the objective of establishing a communication channel, so that, when the time comes, the European Union will have a diplomatic channel with Russia to defend its interests“, declared a European official familiar with the situation, under the protection of anonymity.
The explanations were not sufficient for all European capitals. France and Germany expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that they found out about these contacts from the press, and the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kristen Michal, stated for Politico that it is “too early” and “wrong” for such contacts to be resumed.
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