France says Europe will be represented at US-mediated Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi

Europe's seat at the table

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RTL that Europeans will be represented at the Russia-Ukraine talks scheduled for 10 and 11 November in Abu Dhabi under US mediation. He said France will be in Abu Dhabi to take part in the discussions, but he did not say who would lead its delegation. US envoy Steve Witkoff has described the format as trilateral, bringing together Washington, Kyiv and Moscow, and the meeting would be the first of its kind since a summit in February. Barrot also said Europeans had made their expectations clear to the American mediator, arguing that no talks about the continent's future can ignore them.

An unsettled EU role

The EU has struggled to agree on who should represent it at the peace talks and who, if anyone, should be in contact with Vladimir Putin. European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said on Friday that the EU executive did not yet have details to share.

“It's obviously up to the European Union to decide on matters which affect its security and on matters which are of its competence.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged European Council President António Costa to settle the question in a letter, and Costa has placed it on the agenda of the 13 November leaders' summit. Meloni's letter was partly prompted by a phone call that Finland's Alexander Stubb and Norway's Jonas Gahr Støre made to Vladimir Putin on 27 October, a call that surprised some European leaders.

Washington's signals and European anxiety

Donald Trump spoke of a "big, beautiful agreement" after meeting Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and he suggested the arrangement could reach beyond Ukraine.

“It's going to involve more than Ukraine, and I could even say it might involve all of Europe.”

EU officials fear that the plan risks sidelining the continent and emboldening Putin. Separately, the European Commission has hosted talks on Ukraine's reconstruction with representatives from Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, NATO and the World Bank.

Timeline and what comes next

The key dates currently on the calendar run from the October phone call to the 13 November leaders' summit. France's delegation has not yet been named, and the EU has not yet settled its representation.