European Council President Antonio Costa announced Friday after a summit in Dublin that Poland will be one of the countries taking part in negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Besides Poland, the group will include France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as EU institutions.
– Today, leaders agreed that our European team for peace negotiations in Ukraine consists of the EU institutions and the E5 group (Poland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy – PAP) within the coalition of the willing. Our principles and positions in these negotiations remain well known, and our European team will continue to act in close coordination and full unity, Costa said at a press conference.
– Europe must speak with one clear (…) voice in all discussions shaping Ukraine’s future and the security of our continent, so this is a joint effort by the whole team, he added.
Costa rejected the criticism that the European representation is too large. – Everyone works in a team. Look at the team of (U.S.) President Donald Trump, for example: there are two people there, not one. Ukraine’s delegation also has several members, he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that it is Europe that decides who will represent it in the talks.
The arrangements follow a meeting held in Dublin overnight from Thursday to Friday. Taking part were U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and representatives of Poland, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, along with EU institutions.
Kushner, who flew to Dublin with Witkoff straight from Moscow, where the two had talked with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, said after the Dublin meeting that the next round of talks between Russia and Ukraine would be expanded to include Europe.
An EU diplomat told a group of journalists that the discussion about envoys had gone on too long and distracted from more important issues. – That is why this decision was made, and it was no surprise to anyone, because the E5 format with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Poland was already present in this kind of talks, the diplomat emphasized.
Delegations from Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, along with representatives of EU institutions, were already present during the Ukraine-Russia-U.S. negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but were not admitted to direct talks involving Russia.
According to PAP, the next round of talks is expected in Abu Dhabi in about two weeks.
On Friday, Costa addressed a statement by the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who said she was ready to take part in the negotiations and stressed that she was chosen in 2024 by member states to represent the EU on foreign and defense matters.
The European Council president said the treaties are very clear when it comes to EU institutions. – It is the president of the European Council who represents the European Council and the Union on matters of common foreign and security policy at the level of heads of state and government. The president of the European Commission, in turn, represents the Commission on matters within the scope of the Community, he argued.
From Dublin, Magdalena Cedro (PAP)
