Following recent US announcements, Chancellor Friedrich Merz expects Germany to participate directly in Ukraine peace talks with Russia. “There should be concrete peace talks in which Europe is represented for the first time in the next few weeks,” said Merz on the sidelines of an informal meeting of European heads of state and government in Dublin.
The group of Europeans who were in Abu Dhabi this week would probably be involved. “Germany is involved, that is completely clear.” In addition to representatives of the federal government, delegates from France, Great Britain, the EU and NATO were also present in Abu Dhabi. Of course, common European interests will continue to be represented there.
On Friday night, the USA signaled that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to allow the Europeans to the negotiating table in Ukraine peace talks. There is agreement to include the European partners in the next round of negotiations, said negotiator Jared Kushner. It is expected that the schedule and further details will be announced shortly.
US President Donald Trump's son-in-law met the Kremlin chief on Thursday together with his US colleague Steve Witkoff in Moscow. Kushner and Witkoff then traveled to Dublin to speak on the sidelines of a European summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and security advisers from Germany, Italy, France, Ireland and Poland as well as from EU institutions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was more cautious about a European place at the negotiating table. "The composition is stable, at least as far as our side is concerned, that is, the composition of the negotiating delegation. If it makes sense, the President will make a decision on expanding this composition," Peskov said.
From the point of view of US negotiator Kushner, there are still significant differences between the positions of Russia and Ukraine after the negotiations, but the progress made is encouraging. “We have made significant progress in understanding the concerns of both sides, identifying possible solutions and charting a path forward.”
Kushner and Witkoff initially met with representatives from Moscow and Kiev in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. These were the first direct talks between the warring parties under US mediation in more than eight months. The Europeans were only allowed to attend on the sidelines; they were not invited to the discussions with the Russian delegation.
The new developments could now further heat up the debate about a possible European negotiator - although the next talks are unlikely to take place at top level. At a meeting of around 40 European heads of state and government on Thursday, there was initially no consensus on the issue.
EU Council President António Costa made it clear in the Irish capital that work should continue in different formats until further notice. You work as a team, said Costa.
Accordingly, Germany, France and Great Britain, as so-called E3 states, supported by EU and NATO representatives, could retain the lead in contacts with the US negotiators Kushner and Witkoff. Depending on whether security, financial or economic issues are involved, other actors would also be involved.
Previously, Kushner's comments on Wednesday sparked a new debate about Europe's voice in the talks. “If Europe could identify a person to speak on its behalf, that would be a greater success than getting the Russians to participate,” he said.
Kushner 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 Putin on their own initiative at the end of October.
It wasn't just Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who was upset about this. She called for a binding decision on the question of who will represent the EU and with what mandate in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.
At the summit, Meloni, like Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, was open to EU Council President Costa representing Europe in talks between Ukraine and Russia. The problem, however, is that important 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 no willingness to engage in a discussion that could lead to them losing their direct participation in the negotiation process. “We are not a United States of Europe,” said Irish Minister of State for Europe Thomas Byrne about the fact that the situation is completely different for the USA, but also for Russia and Ukraine.
