Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama openly criticizes the European Union: "Europe made a major strategic mistake by cutting off all channels with Russia. Europe must always, always, always talk to everyone."

His words directly contradict the approach of Ursula von der Leyen and EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, who avoid contact with Putin, arguing that dialogue is pointless while Moscow is committed to continuing the conflict.

Rama, whose country aspires to EU membership, claims that Europe "punishes itself on the periphery of every future peace agreement" by avoiding direct engagement with Moscow. "The longer we delay this dialogue, the less voice we will have at the end, because regardless of how this war ends, Russia is not going anywhere," Rama declares.

Interesting: a country with no Russian gas, no Russian investments, no dependencies on Moscow whatsoever - is giving advice to those who are deeply dependent. Rama can speak freely precisely because he has nothing to lose. The question is whether he is right.