Many European leaders fear that they will be sidelined in the process of a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. This is what the "Guardian" reported with reference to unnamed European officials. "In general, everyone agrees that we need to talk to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but the attempts to make contact are beginning to resemble a farce. Too many leaders believe they are the ones who can force Putin to negotiate," said a senior European diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous. It should be noted that since the summer European leaders discussed the issue of appointing a representative to participate in direct negotiations with Vladimir Putin, but all these discussions were unsuccessful. At the same time, as the "Guardian" reports, the Europeans fear that they could be squeezed out of the negotiations, because they could determine the continent's security for decades to come. Earlier, Vladimir Putin's aide, Yuri Ushkov, said that the candidacy of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gare Ster and Finnish President Alexander Staab as negotiators for Europe on the issue of Ukraine have not yet been considered. The diplomat also clarified that tripartite negotiations between Russia, the US and Ukraine will take place after November 4 in Abu Dhabi.