Diplomatic — 2026-06-19

EU Council President Costa Reveals He Reopened Diplomatic Channel With Kremlin Ahead of Ukraine Discussions

BLUFCosta's uncoordinated Kremlin outreach is unlikely to advance beyond preparatory contacts within 60 days, having fractured the eastern-flank consensus required to authorize substantive negotiations.

At the June 18 Brussels summit, Costa confirmed to EU leaders that he had directed his office to open a diplomatic channel with the Kremlin, describing the contacts as brief exchanges with no substantive information-sharing and no negotiations 123. Euronews reported that Costa's chief of cabinet, Pedro Lourtie, held several phone calls with a senior Putin aide believed to be Yuri Ushakov, a detail Costa's office did not confirm 2. Costa conducted no broad consultations with national capitals beforehand, and multiple officials from several member states told Euronews they had learned of the channel through media reports 2. Poland, the Baltics, and the Nordic states raised concerns at the summit; Belgium, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, and Bulgaria signaled support 2.

Analysis
Costa's failure to consult eastern-flank states before opening contact with the Kremlin, corroborated across Bloomberg, Euronews, and Ukrainska Pravda with no contradictory accounts, has fractured the consensus credibility central to his presidency. Escalation to publicly disclosed substantive negotiations is unlikely within 60 days. Eastern-bloc opposition is publicly declared, no Russian readiness signal has emerged, and Costa characterized the contacts as preparatory, grounds for high confidence in that assessment. Ukraine's reported encouragement of the outreach is the strongest competing framing, recasting the episode as authorized preparation for a future EU negotiating role rather than unsanctioned initiative. Should talks fail to materialize, eastern-flank states pressing to confine Russia contacts to the E3 format gain political ground and can demand formal consultation requirements before any future channel opens.

4 sources

EU Council president explains to EU leaders why he reopened contacts with Moscow - Ukrainska Pravda
Costa defends surprise decision to open diplomatic channel with Russia - Euronews
EU's Costa Justifies Putin Back Channel as Useful Groundwork - Bloomberg
EU's Costa Opens Back Channel to Putin, Kremlin for Talks on Ukraine War - Bloomberg