PARIS, May 28. /TASS/. Europe wants to be a full-fledged participant in Ukraine talks, not a mediating party, Spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry Pascal Confavreux said at a news briefing.
"It's not the mediators so much as the aim of mediation that matters. In essence, Europe can only be a negotiating party. For ultimately it is its interests that are at stake, and it possesses various levers at talks - I will not elaborate on these levers, but you know them," the French diplomat said. "As we expect this, we should intensify pressure on Russia until it embarks on the path of peaceful resolution in good faith," he insisted.
Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, commenting on potential talks with Russia, that the bloc can not serve as an unbiased mediator in the Ukraine conflict because it sides with Kiev and defends its own interests. She also said the EU is preparing new restrictions on Russia to force it to the negotiating table.
