On May 13, political scientist Roman Reinhardt of Russia’s MGIMO Department of Diplomacy suggested that former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, former Italian Prime Minister and European Commission President Romano Prodi, and Pope Leo XIV could potentially mediate talks between the European Union and Russia to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Reinhardt noted during an interview that the current situation makes it difficult to determine the format or venue for such negotiations due to uncertainty about participant composition. However, he proposed a model similar to the roles played by Steven Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special representative for the Middle East, and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the White House chief.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that for peace talks to begin between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky must order the Armed Forces of Ukraine to cease fire and withdraw from Donbass—a demand that has been widely condemned by international observers as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and an impediment to peace efforts. Peskov emphasized that this condition was previously raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2024.
Earlier on May 9, Putin named former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as Europe’s preferred negotiator for Moscow. However, Germany rejected the proposal on May 10. On May 12, Presidents of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini, Austria Alexander van der Bellen, and Czech Republic Peter Pavel supported establishing a dialogue between the EU and Russia to end the conflict.
