Europe just knocked on Russia’s door. António Costa, president of the European Council, has initiated contact with the Kremlin through his senior adviser, who held two preparatory phone calls with a Russian official tied to Vladimir Putin. The goal: testing whether there’s any realistic path to peace talks on Ukraine.
The outreach, reported on June 17, represents the most concrete step by a top EU leader toward direct engagement with Moscow since the war’s early phases. Neither Costa’s representatives nor Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov have commented publicly on the calls.
What we know about the back-channel
Costa didn’t pick up the phone himself. Instead, his senior adviser conducted two calls with a notable Russian official described as close to Putin. The conversations were preparatory in nature, meaning they were designed to feel out whether substantive peace discussions are even possible.
Costa has been laying the rhetorical groundwork for this for months. He has repeatedly stated that the EU must eventually engage Russia on shared security concerns, while noting the timing hasn’t been right for formal discussions.
