EU leaders hand Ukraine peace talks to France, Germany, UK, Italy, Poland plus Brussels – instead of a single envoy

EU leaders agreed at their informal summit in Dublin on Friday that Europe will be represented in Ukraine peace talks by the EU institutions together with France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Poland, rather than a single envoy. “Today, the leaders agreed that our European team for the negotiations on peace in Ukraine is the European Union institutions and the E5 of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’,” European Council president António Costa told reporters after the meeting on Friday (13 November). Under the arrangement, the EU will take the lead on Ukraine’s “European future, its reconstruction, and prosperity”, while security guarantees “must be addressed within the framework of the coalition of the willing, in close coordination with Nato”, Costa said. “Europe must speak with one clear and united voice in all discussions that shape the future of Ukraine and the security of our continent,” he added. The decision largely formalises the current arrangement, in which France, Germany and the UK sit at the table alongside Italy and Björn Seibert, chief of staff to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Earlier on Friday, a senior diplomat called that set-up “not ideal”. It also leaves open whether foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas will take a seat. EU capitals did support sending her to the talks, the diplomat said, adding that it was “just not possible”. ‘Setting traps’ Kallas, for her part, defended her role as she arrived at the summit, and warned that Russia was “setting traps” by trying to divert attention from its aggression with a debate on Europe’s security architecture and the role of Nato.