Europe backs Zelensky's peace proposal to Putin at Balkans Summit

Leading European politicians are set to hold a summit with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming days, following his offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin of direct peace talks, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.
Speaking on the sidelines of an EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro, Macron said there was close coordination between France, the UK and Germany and that they would meet Zelensky in a few days.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron last spoke about two weeks ago in a video conference. Regarding Zelensky's letter to Putin, Macron said: 'I believe that today it is Ukraine and Russia that can work out both a ceasefire and a peace plan'.
The Europeans could help, he said, as they were by far Ukraine's most important supporters. He added that the Europeans would also need to have a seat at the table at a certain point in the talks on a peace plan, given that —due to the geographical situation — it concerned a peace and security architecture for Europe. 'That is why I consider this a good initiative', he said.
Zelensky offered Putin peace talks on Thursday in an open letter. In response, the Kremlin so far only renewed its offer of negotiations in Moscow and its demand for full control of Ukraine's Donbass region as a precondition for peace, proposals Zelensky has rejected on multiple previous occasions. Against the backdrop of stalling US mediation efforts, Zelensky offered Putin direct peace talks in a country other than Russia or Ukraine to discuss 'key issues' in person. The German government has welcomed Zelensky's latest offer of negotiations to Russia.
'We also share President Zelensky's view that representatives of Europe and the United States should be involved in talks with Russia', deputy government spokesman Sebastian Hille said in Berlin.
A lasting peace could only be achieved with the involvement of the Europeans, he said. 'We are very much in favour of this conflict being brought to an end', Hille said.
Ukraine had long shown a willingness to engage in talks, which was not something that could be observed on Russia's side. Instead, there were 'brutal attacks' on Ukrainian cities.