Ukraine envoy row hijacks EU leaders’ first AI summit

EU leaders gather in Dublin on Friday to discuss artificial intelligence for the first time, but tensions over who should represent Europe in Ukraine peace talks are set to dominate the agenda. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT European Council President António Costa has put AI on the leaders’ agenda for the first time, at an informal summit in Dublin on Friday. The informal format suits the subject. With no political statements to adopt at the end, leaders can speak more openly. “The President had already thought of putting this discussion on the agenda of the European Council. It’s not always easy. Sometimes it gets overcrowded by current events,” an EU official said, asking not to be named. That is precisely what has unfolded. The summit was meant to focus on AI, but the question of who should speak for the EU in the Ukraine talks has taken over. Peace envoy Ukraine reached the agenda after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote to Costa warning that the multiple formats in which the EU is engaging in the talks made it “less credible”. She called for a clear mandate to take part in the negotiations. Costa agreed to add the item and appeared to put himself forward for the job, noting that “the European Union’s interests need to be represented by its institutions, in accordance with the Treaties.” He already has support. Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden told reporters on Thursday that Costa would be the natural choice as common EU representative. “We, as heads of government, have a representative. And that is President Costa. We elected him. He is the President of the European Council. I could live with someone else as well, but of course, we have a President,” Frieden said. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas argues that the EU treaties are clear: on European security, she and Costa should be in the driving seat. “The leaders, of course, may choose differently and go into these discussions again, which is always difficult. Or we should just stick to the agreements that we made in 2024,” she said, pointing to the allocation of the EU’s top jobs that year. Controversy ahead The matter is pressing because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Europeans to decide who will represent them at the negotiating table by the end of the month. “It is important to have a discussion about who will represent Europe during these negotiations. That being said, for me the substance is the most important thing. I think we need to stand firm. I think we have to stand united,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. Frederiksen and her Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, had previously criticised the leaders of Norway and Finland for holding direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin without prior consultation. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, meanwhile, defended the E3 format, in which Germany, France and the UK are committed to providing the security guarantees needed to enforce any peace agreement with Russia. “We will also discuss who, if necessary, will represent the European Union. But that is a matter we will discuss behind closed doors. So, first of all, we have a tried-and-tested format in the E3,” he said, adding that the three were also working with Poland and Italy. Merz may also raise the financing of Ukraine’s war effort. Costa invited him to do so after he openly threatened to veto an EU budget deal without a unanimous solution on the matter, prompting a backlash from several leaders. Ukraine financing and the EU budget will take centre stage at a special European Council on 26-27 November. Artificial intelligence The AI discussion will have two parts. The first, on boosting Europe’s competitiveness and sovereignty, features Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI, the French start-up taking on American tech giants in large language models. US and Chinese companies have largely captured the development of the most advanced AI technologies. To strengthen European players, the EU is advancing rules to ensure that public contracts in sensitive use cases go only to European companies. The second part turns to AI’s impact on society. Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, one of the field’s most renowned figures, will address leaders. He has been among the most prominent voices warning of the technology’s existential risks, estimating a 10% to 20% risk that AI could cause human extinction by escaping human control. “The guests will help frame these discussions, to allow the leaders to have a common understanding of how these challenges will be tackled,” the EU official continued.