EU summit in Dublin names E5 and EU institutions as Ukraine peace team

A single envoy ruled out

EU leaders met at an informal summit in Dublin on Friday, 13 November, and declined to name a single negotiator for peace in Ukraine, despite calls from the United States, Russia and Ukraine. Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, had convened the gathering to discuss artificial intelligence, but the question of who speaks for Europe took over. The item was added to the agenda at the last minute after a request from the Italian prime minister. European Council President António Costa said the team will consist of the EU institutions and the E5, namely Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, which also sit in the Coalition of the Willing. He noted that Donald Trump has two envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while the Ukrainian delegation has, by Costa's estimate, three or four people. Costa put the principle simply:

“It is essential to have a team and to speak with one voice.”

Who sits at the table

For now the team will be led by diplomats rather than leaders, and leaders could join if the process advances, according to La Vanguardia. Portuguese prime minister Luis Montenegro said after the summit that the group has no concrete mandate yet and is meant to assist the talks, not to address European security architecture. Costa said the Coalition of the Willing will be the forum where security guarantees for Ukraine are discussed. Spain is left out of the negotiating team because Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez skipped the Dublin summit to focus on an election campaign, and Spain will be represented through the EU institutions. Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, had put herself forward for the role, but eldiario reports she was left out of the top-level negotiations.

Moscow's conditions

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said from Moscow that Russia would be ready to talk with the Europeans if they have a properly empowered representative and really want to engage. ABC reports that Russia's green light, confirmed on Friday, depends on Europeans showing they are willing to contribute to the peace process. Witkoff and Kushner travelled from Abu Dhabi, where the last trilateral round took place, to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin, then flew to Dublin and met some European heads of government at the airport. According to eldiario, Putin asked the envoys to tell their European partners to decide whether they want peace or war in Ukraine. Putin also repeated demands first made in 2021, including a halt to NATO expansion and a pullback of troops and weapons to 1997 positions.

Trump-Putin meeting and Yalta fears

A meeting between the US and Russian leaders is scheduled for 18-19 November during the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, and it has put Europe on edge. The prospect has prompted warnings about a possible Yalta-type agreement in which superpowers would decide European security over the heads of the countries directly concerned, recalling the wartime talks that divided Europe among four allied powers. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the meeting directly:

“That is why I want to make our message to the U.S. very clear: Please, no surprises!”

Merz also asked Washington to keep acting as one team with Europe and Ukraine.

What comes next

The next round of talks is in Abu Dhabi, where La Vanguardia reports the five countries and the two EU institutions will present themselves. Leaders could join the diplomats later if the process moves forward. ABC reports that new loans to finance Ukraine for as long as the war lasts are still pending, and that the discussion has been postponed to the extraordinary European Council in Brussels on 26 November. Russia's conditional opening and the Trump-Putin meeting on 18-19 November are the next markers for the format.