France wants the EU to negotiate with Russia.

RT reported on February 2nd that French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated that the EU needs a direct channel of communication with Russia.

In an interview with Liberation , published on February 1st, Minister Barrot stated that, in principle, France has never ruled out the possibility of negotiations with Russia, provided those negotiations are conducted transparently with Ukraine and the EU and are mutually beneficial.

"European countries, currently Ukraine's main financial and military donors, need a channel to assert their interests without transferring responsibility to anyone else," Barrot said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. Photo: NurPhoto.

These statements reflect growing concerns among EU members that the bloc's influence has been diminished by US President Donald Trump, who has sought to mediate an end to the Ukraine conflict through direct talks with both Moscow and Kyiv for months.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had previously called on the EU to appoint a special envoy to Russia to ensure the bloc has a voice in the negotiations.

Reportedly, the EU has refused to contact Moscow for the past four years, following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022.

In December 2025, President Macron called on Europe to resume negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the Ukraine conflict; otherwise, negotiations (to resolve the Ukraine conflict) could take place without European participation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that President Putin is ready to engage in dialogue with Macron if there is "common political will." However, he said that any potential dialogue should not be "used by one side to lecture" the other, and must serve a clear purpose.

However, the European Union's High Commissioner for Foreign Policy and Security, Kaja Kallas, rejected any direct talks with Moscow. She dismissed the idea of reopening diplomatic channels, adding that the EU has no "leverage" to persuade Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly stated its willingness to engage in good-faith negotiations, provided that the West respects Russia's security concerns and abandons its goal of inflicting strategic defeat through Ukraine.

>>> Readers are invited to watch the video: The door to reaching an agreement on the Ukraine conflict remains open.