Some EU leaders caution against talks with Russia

Several EU leaders said on Thursday there was no point in rushing into talks with Russia after an EU official said on Wednesday the office of European

Council President Antonio Costa had made "brief contacts at diplomatic level" with the Kremlin.



European leaders have recently stepped up discussions about the possibility of direct talks with Russia over the war in Ukraine after isolating Moscow diplomatically since it attacked Ukraine in February 2022. But there is no joint view.



"First of all, there has to be someone on the other side willing for peace," Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said as he arrived at a European Union summit in Brussels. "Unfortunately no one wants peace on that side ... there is no point for contact if the other party (Russia) doesn't want (peace)."