Will Europe formally appoint a special envoy to initiate dialogue with Russia on Ukraine by end‑July 2026?

Why: The supplied evidence contains multiple independent, dated reports and official EU press releases showing that no European body publicly named and appointed a special envoy to open dialogue with Russia on the war in Ukraine by 23:59 UTC on 2026-07-31. Independent news reporting and EU officials explicitly state no envoy was named or planned (e.g. Euronews 2026-05-28 quotes High Representative Kaja Kallas dismissing the idea of the EU as a neutral mediator; Eurointegration 2026-05-28 reports senior officials saying the EU is not planning to appoint a chief negotiator; RFE/RL 2026-06-02 states “no mediator was named, and no mandate was put forward”). In July the Council’s own press releases (13 Jul and 23 Jul 2026) record appointments of EU Special Representatives for Kosovo and for the Sahel but contain no announcement of any special envoy to initiate dialogue with Russia over the war in Ukraine. None of the supplied sources report a public naming/appointment of such a Russia-focused envoy by the July 31 deadline, so the correct settlement based on the provided evidence is NO.