DUBLIN (AP) — European nations are seeking an envoy to represent them in negotiations over ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, concerned that a The US-backed process will leave them behind and kyiv is vulnerable as Moscow and Washington decide the fate of a conflict shaking the continent.
The question of whether Europe should be represented by one person or a team – and who should take on that role – is being debated on Friday among EU leaders. The 27 countries of the European Union meet at a summit in Dublin. Senior EU officials and politicians have been suggested, but there is no consensus yet.
What this work might entail is also unclear and contested. But the governments of the United Kingdom and Ukraine largely agree on the need for Europe to join the ongoing negotiations. involving Moscow, Kyiv and Washington.
“This must be resolved,” Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin said upon arrival at the summit.
“I hope that today’s discussions will bring clarity to this issue,” he said. “In my opinion, this must finally be decided within a week or two. »
Ukraine looks forward to support from its European allies. He is reluctant to leave negotiations solely in the hands of a U.S. administration that has often appeared to lean toward Moscow. Russia does not want European countries involved in direct negotiations, complaining that they are. finance and supply Ukraine’s military effort.
European leaders are also wary of U.S. President Donald Trump negotiating on their behalf after a series of tensions over trade, Greenland and conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.
“Without Europeans, there is no support for Ukraine,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday at a meeting of the European Political Community in Dublin. “There is no more American support.”
“Ultimately, it is we who will define and decide our future security as Europeans,” he said.
Europe is broadly aligned but not unified
European leaders fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin will pressure Trump to support a peace deal that would weaken not only Ukraine but European security as a whole. Putin demanded that NATO troops be withdrawn from Russian borders and that no European forces be deployed in Ukraine.
As envoys from Washington, Moscow and kyiv met in Abu Dhabi, several European countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, were participating in discussions nearby.
US envoy Jared Kushner and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after their meeting in Dublin on Thursday evening that Europe would be part of the next round of negotiations. Zelensky said Europe would send a negotiating team, adding: “They will have a voice.”
“We cannot make this deal without the Europeans at the table,” Kushner said. He said Putin “is ready to try.”
Supporters of a single envoy, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, argue that the absence of a united European voice has allowed individual countries or small groups to engage in independent diplomacy.
“There are too many different groups discussing this issue,” she said.
Meloni criticized a series of seemingly uncoordinated moves, including the October call to Putin by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, which she said could harm European interests.
Martin said that European representation at the negotiations “cannot just be the European Union” because the Coalition of the Willing – a group of more than two dozen countries that have pledged military support to help maintain future peace in Ukraine – “involved much more than the European Union.”
“This is an issue that concerns the entire European continent,” he said, highlighting Norway and Britain’s support for Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that for Europe to participate in peace talks, it must first appoint a representative. “Europeans bicker like spiders in a jar. »
An old question with no clear answer
The question of who represents Europe is an old one. Europe itself is vaguely defined. Is it the EU of 27, the NATO military alliance of 32 countries made up mainly of European countries, the Schengen zone of 29 or the European Political Community of 47?
This has frustrated Washington in the past and present.
After this week’s U.S.-brokered negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in the United Arab Emirates, Kushner said that “if Europe could identify one person to speak on its behalf, that would be a greater achievement than getting the Russians to include him in the negotiation.”
This echoes the famous question often wrongly attributed to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: “Who should I call if I want to call Europe?” »
Potential EU candidates
France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the region’s three largest economies, known collectively as the European trio or E3, have been the most engaged European body in the negotiations so far. But while London is deeply involved in relations with Ukraine, the UK left the EU in 2020.
But an E3 envoy would leave out the other 25 EU countries and anger smaller countries like those bordering Russia and Belarus on the bloc’s “eastern flank,” which face constant hybrid threats, including influence campaigns and disruptive drones.
Some support a senior EU official for the post. However, even in Brussels there are two main competitors: European Council President Antonio Costa and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas.
“European security cannot be discussed without a European voice at the table,” Costa said in Dublin on Thursday. “This European voice must be the result of a team effort between European nations, the European Union and NATO. »
But earlier this year, Costa came under fire within the EU after the creation of his office. a secret channel with Moscow.
The perhaps obvious candidate, however, is Kallas, the former Prime Minister of Estonia.
She claimed the role of envoy on Friday, declaring: “I am the one who represents Europe in foreign and security policy.”
“I know the Russians don’t want me, but, you know, do we have any say in who represents Russia?” she said. “We cannot send someone who has no institutional role like the Americans do.”
Another name mentioned is Stubb, the Finnish president. He maintains warm relations with Trump and met in Oslo with American envoys Steve Witkoff and Kushner in October.
But some leaders are deeply wary of U.S.-brokered negotiations. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been critical of the negotiations, reflecting the pessimism of EU countries formerly dominated by the Soviet Union.
“In my opinion, talking about negotiations is an exaggeration,” Tusk said Thursday. “We will not build a new security architecture just because the Russian president, or someone in the United States, wants us to. »
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Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.
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