Dublin. The Europeans will not for now comply with calls to name a single top representative for Ukraine peace talks. After a meeting of around 40 European heads of state and government in Dublin, EU Council President António Costa made it clear that work should continue in different formats until further notice. We work as a team, said Costa in the final press conference.
Accordingly, Germany, France and Great Britain, as the so-called E3, supported by EU and NATO representatives, could retain the lead in contacts with US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Depending on whether security, financial or economic issues are involved, other actors would also be involved.
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz also made it clear at the summit of the so-called European Political Community (EPG) that he does not believe it is necessary to determine a single top representative at this point in time. “What matters here now is not people, but rather that Putin is willing to hold talks,” he said. It is important that Russia comes to the table and is ready for talks. Everything else will then fall into place. The question of European participation is being discussed behind closed doors.
Previously, Kushner's statements following the recent direct talks between Moscow and Kiev under US mediation sparked a new debate about Europe's voice in the negotiations. Kushner said: “If Europe could identify a person to speak on its behalf, that would be a greater success than getting the Russians to participate.”
The son-in-law of US President Donald Trump was alluding to the fact that the Europeans do not have a clearly defined negotiator and have not always acted in a fully coordinated manner. This always causes discussions within Europe. This was the case most recently when Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on their own initiative at the end of October.
At the summit, Meloni, like Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, was open to EU Council President António Costa representing Europe in talks between Ukraine and Russia. The problem, however, is that relevant non-EU members such as Great Britain may not want to be represented by the President of the European Council.
Germany and France have also so far shown themselves to be unwilling to engage in a discussion that could lead to them losing their direct participation in the negotiation process. In principle, it is considered unlikely in Europe that there will be a top meeting involving Russian President Vladimir Putin in the foreseeable future. Negotiations are therefore likely to continue at consultant level for the time being.
This is also supported by Putin's most recent statements at a meeting with Witkoff and Kushner on Thursday in Moscow. The Kremlin chief reiterated his unyielding Russian territorial demands on Ukraine. Putin said that there is only one possible border line for Russia with Ukraine, and that is the official Russian external border. According to Putin's understanding, this border also includes Ukrainian territories that Russia has annexed. The Kremlin released a video recording of the start of the conversation.
In addition to the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, Moscow also declared the Ukrainian administrative regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to be Russian territory in 2022. From a military point of view, the four areas are partly under Ukrainian control. Above all, Russia demands a withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk and Luhansk, the so-called Donbass, which Putin was unable to conquer in almost five years of war. Ukraine categorically rejects any cessions of territory.
Witkoff and Kushner wanted to inform Zelensky and European negotiators about their conversation with Putin on Thursday evening after the summit in Dublin. In an interview with CNN, Witkoff spoke of progress despite Putin's statements and stated that a new date had also been agreed. However, it remained unclear whether the Europeans would be able to sit directly at the table for the first time.
At the most recent meeting in Abu Dhabi, the Europeans only held talks with the Americans and Ukrainians, but were not present at the discussions with the Russian delegation. The three-way talks on ending the Russian war of aggression, which has been going on for more than four and a half years, were the first of their kind after an interruption of more than eight months.
There will be further discussions about further support for the Ukrainians this Friday at an informal meeting of the heads of state and government of the EU countries. This will be organized directly after the EPG summit, also in Dublin.
