"The debate on Ukraine" yesterday at the European Summit "unfortunately confirmed that Europe is unable to agree on whether to negotiate" with Russia "or who should do it," Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said upon arrival at the European Council in Brussels, evoking the so-called "Normandy format," the diplomatic roundtable where Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany met in 2014 to end the conflict in Donbass.
According to Babis, the meeting was criticised because European Council President Antonio Costa had already "established contacts" with Moscow.
"But to say that Zelensky should negotiate alone without Europe, when Europe is paying for everything, is nonsense," he said. "Some leaders have said that Zelensky alone should negotiate, others argue that Europe should negotiate," or even "some leaders didn't want anyone to negotiate for them," he explained.
