Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday that it would be up to the EU to decide who its negotiator is for possible talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the weekend that he would like former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to be a mediator.

Schroeder has ties with the Kremlin, having been a lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies, and has never publicly condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Europe will choose Europe’s negotiator, not Russia,” Tajani said as he arrived at a Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

“It will be a decision taken collectively by the 27 EU countries.

“But, in the meantime, we need to see if Russia truly wants peace; I hope so”.

When asked if European Council President António Costa could be the EU’s negotiator, Tajani said his was a “prestigious name.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also rejected talk of Schroeder’s involvement on Monday.

“If we give the right to Russia to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, that would not be very wise,” Kallas said.

“Gerhard Schroeder has been a high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies.

So it’s clear why Putin wants him to be the person so that actually, you know, he would be sitting on both sides of the table”.