Czech President denies ambitions to become Europe's negotiator on Ukraine

Czech President Petr Pavel has rejected the idea that he wants to serve as a European negotiator tasked with ending the war in Ukraine. He said so in Trenčín, Slovakia, after a meeting of the heads of state of the Visegrád Group (V4, the regional cooperation format of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary), as reported by European Pravda, citing České noviny.

Asked whether he would accept such an offer, Pavel replied that he definitely has no such ambitions. He added that he would gladly share his experience from working in NATO and the European Union, but stressed that it is for European states to decide whom they regard as their representative. Pavel chaired the NATO Military Committee from June 2015 to June 2018.

The Telegraph report

Fourteen days ago, the British outlet The Telegraph, citing diplomatic sources, reported that Pavel is among five politicians being considered by European leaders as chief negotiators for talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. On Thursday, Pavel said no names had been discussed. He acknowledged that his name had appeared in the report alongside several others, but described it as journalistic speculation and clarified that there had definitely been no negotiations. In his view, the speculation may stem from the fact that he and the others named had repeatedly spoken publicly on the issue.

Meloni urges choosing a representative

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has urged European Council President António Costa to put the appointment of a European negotiator on the agenda of an informal summit in Dublin in November, according to a private letter cited by the ANSA and Adnkronos news agencies. In the letter, Meloni says it is extremely important for Europe to speak with "one voice" on the war in Ukraine. She argues that without a joint EU representative and a defined mandate, the EU risks being powerless in negotiations to end the war.

Pavel had previously said that a window of opportunity for negotiations currently exists but could close because of efforts to find a completely unified position among all European countries.