Belgian premier calls for EU mandate to negotiate with Russia over Ukraine war

Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called for the EU to be formally mandated by its member states to negotiate directly with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to the Belgian newspaper L'Echo on Saturday, De Wever argued that diplomatic talks may be the only remaining option after efforts to pressure Moscow through military support for Kyiv and economic sanctions have so far failed to end the conflict.

"Since we are not capable of threatening (Russian President) Vladimir Putin by sending weapons to Ukraine, and we cannot choke him economically without the support of the US, there is only one method left: making a deal," he said.

Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, triggering sweeping Western sanctions and large-scale military assistance for Kyiv.

European governments have since debated how far they should go in supporting Ukraine and whether negotiations with Moscow could help bring the war to an end.

De Wever said that forcing Russia into a decisive defeat would require stronger backing from Washington.

Bringing Russia to its knees would only be possible with "100% support from the US," he said.

But he also suggested the US was not consistently aligned with Ukraine's leadership.

"Without a mandate to go and negotiate in Moscow, we are not at the negotiating table where the Americans will push Ukraine to accept a deal. And I can already say that it will be a bad agreement for us," he said.