Multiple European Parliament members from the AfD and BSW parties have reportedly participated in multiple video conferences in 2025 with Leonid Sluzki, a far-right Russian foreign policy official known for his radical stances, including advocating for the death penalty for Ukrainian prisoners of war. AfD MEP Volker Schnurrbusch and BSW MEP Thomas Geisel confirmed their attendance, with Schnurrbusch stating he was an "interested listener" and Geisel emphasizing the importance of maintaining dialogue despite strained EU-Russia relations. The meetings, allegedly organized by Luxembourgish MEP Fernand Kartheiser, were exploited for Russian propaganda, framing them as negotiations and discussing topics like the alleged threat to Russian speakers in Donbas and the "neo-Nazi regime" in Kyiv. Geisel also confirmed a discussion about frozen Russian state assets at a second meeting.