Zelenskyy to meet US envoys in Dublin after Russia peace talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Dublin on Thursday, on the sidelines of a summit bringing together leaders from more than 45 countries. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The two envoys are expected to arrive in the afternoon from Moscow, where they met Russian President Vladimir Putin, and brief Zelenskyy on the latest efforts to end the war in Ukraine, following two days of talks in Abu Dhabi. Zelenskyy is in Dublin for the ninth summit of the European Political Community (EPC), hosted by Ireland as part of its rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Welcoming the Ukrainian president on Wednesday evening, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin praised the courage of the Ukrainian people and condemned Russia's continuing attacks on the country. "It is barbarous, and it is vile, and I once again offer my heartfelt solidarity to the people of Ukraine and my undying admiration for your unwavering resolve, resilience, and bravery,” said Martin as part of a joint press conference in Government Buildings on Wednesday night. Zelenskyy said he was grateful that European representatives were in Abu Dhabi for talks but insisted that Europe needs to be central to any negotiations regarding the future security architecture of the continent. He urged leaders to coalesce around one representative for Europe as part of future talks. Earlier on Wednesday, Kushner told a press conference in Abu Dhabi that he would seek Putin's "blessing" for a direct European role in the talks. "This war is in Ukraine, and ending this war without Europe’s participation would be unjust, and it would be impossible,” Zelenskyy said speaking alongside the Taoiseach. "We need to choose who (will) represent Europe, and it's important. We need to choose very concrete personalities, the leaders of Europe, who will represent Europe, and we need to do it in November, because we count that negotiations will continue," said Zelenskyy. “President Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will have negotiations in Russia tomorrow, and we expect to meet with them by the end of the day here in Ireland," he added. Zelenskyy is also expected to hold several bilateral meetings and attend plenary sessions, as well as a Friends of Ukraine event co-chaired by Martin and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Meanwhile, Dublin is bracing for further disruption following a series of security threats ahead of the summit. Hoax bomb threats were sent to hundreds of schools on Wednesday morning in Ireland the UK and Italy. They followed a number of similar threats to airlines, as well as media organisations. The Garda Síochána - the Irish police force - say they're ready for "all eventualities" in the case of a more serious incident. "We're ready for every eventuality, and I certainly think we are in relation to the equipment, the training, the people, our plans, "Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly told reporters on Tuesday. A number of protests are also planned along the route to Dublin's Convention Centre where the EPC is taking place. Kelly said that while the force is willing to "facilitate peaceful protest", they'll act "swiftly" if any criminal activity is suspected. “We cannot have any situation where there's a disruption to any of the events themselves, to any of the delegates," said Kelly. "There's a huge amount of press coming to the country as well. So, we obviously we won't tolerate any interruption to any of that," he said. The EPC is an informal forum for European heads of state and government to discuss political and strategic issues of shared concern. It was launch in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It also created and opportunity for the UK to take part in discussions about the direction of the continent after it left the EU in 2020. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is attending for the first time, alongside Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who is representing Switzerland as host of the tenth EPC summit, set to take place in Zurich in April 2027. An EU official told Euronews that Carney’s presence “symbolises how close Canada wants to be in relation to security.” This year’s theme is "Europe – strong, secure and connected," focusing on strengthening competitiveness through energy security and connectivity. While mgration is not a main topic for the agenda, it will nonetheless be discussed, with a joint statement expected from Italy, Denmark and the UK an EU official confirmed. The EPC summit precedes an informal gathering of EU leaders on Friday which is expected to be tense after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last week sent a strongly worded letter to European Council President António Costa about the lack of cohesion amongst European countries over the Ukraine war. Meloni questioned who speaks for Europe in the Ukraine war and criticised efforts by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who held a 90-minute call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. Meloni told Costa that Europe appears “all over the place” on Ukraine and called for the issue to be a priority at Friday’s summit. She pointed to previous meetings in Miami, and upcoming talks by the Coalition of the Willing, saying the many voices and venues “undermine our credibility in handling one of the most complicated issues our nations are facing.”