Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has said the European Union must be prepared to engage directly with the Kremlin if it wants to help bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, arguing that Europe currently lacks both representation and influence in ongoing diplomatic efforts.
Speaking to Euronews ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Bettel stressed that dialogue, however uncomfortable, remains a prerequisite for any negotiated outcome. “If we can’t talk to them, we won’t find a solution,” he said, adding that Europe needs a channel to Moscow if it wants to shape events rather than react to them.
Bettel indicated he would be willing to contribute to such efforts, including through discreet, back-channel diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he met in Moscow in 2015 while serving as Luxembourg’s prime minister. At the same time, he downplayed his own stature, suggesting that larger member states may be better placed to act on behalf of the bloc.
“If Luxembourg is too small to do it, then President Macron or someone else should be able to represent Europe,” Bettel said, noting that Moscow has little incentive to engage with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. He added that he had no “ego” about the role and would be prepared to contribute in any capacity, including away from the public spotlight. “If I can be useful, I love to be useful,” he said.
His remarks come as several EU leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron, have signalled that Europe should have a seat at the negotiating table in US-brokered efforts to explore a potential peace settlement for Ukraine. However, questions persist over who, if anyone, can credibly speak for the bloc.
Bettel was openly critical of the EU’s current leadership structure, arguing that it lacks the political legitimacy needed for high-stakes negotiations. He pointed to the absence of Kallas from recent discussions in Washington with US President Donald Trump as symptomatic of a wider problem. “Who represents Europe?” he asked. “It’s her job.”
He argued that either the president of the European Commission or the president of the European Council should be directly elected, giving the role democratic legitimacy and real authority. Without this, he warned, Europe risks continued marginalisation. “We are absent,” he said.
Bettel also expressed unease about Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy, describing the US president as a businessman seeking rapid results and showing little patience for multilateral institutions. “The UN is too complicated for him,” Bettel said.
He criticised Trump’s recent creation of a so-called Board of Peace, which some observers view as an attempt to sideline the United Nations. Bettel warned that such initiatives are particularly concerning for smaller states. “If international law and international regulations are not respected anymore, and it’s the power of the strongest and the biggest, this is not good for me and for a lot of other countries,” he said.
The inclusion of Russia on the US-led board, originally established to promote peace in Palestine, was also problematic from a European perspective, Bettel argued. “Russia is an aggressor in Ukraine,” he said, adding that portraying Moscow as a peacemaker sends a “special” and potentially misleading signal. He also called for greater Palestinian representation in the initiative.
Separately, speaking ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Bettel said he hoped EU ministers would send “a strong signal” to the Iranian population by backing the listing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
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