European Council President Antonio Costa says Europe will be represented by officials from the EU and the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland at upcoming Ukraine talks.
European Council President Antonio Costa said on Friday that Brussels will send diplomats from the European Union and five countries to upcoming Ukraine talks. The five countries are the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.
Costa said the continent will be represented by officials from the 27-nation EU bloc and five members of the “Coalition of the Willing” that backs Ukraine: the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.
“We need to integrate all of us. And for this it's essential to have a team and to speak with only one voice,” Costa said.
European leaders have been concerned that a US-backed process will leave them sidelined and Kyiv vulnerable as Moscow and Washington decide the fate of a conflict that has roiled the continent.
Ukraine is eager for support from its European allies. It's reluctant to leave the talks solely in the hands of a US administration that has often seemed to lean toward Moscow’s views. Russia, for its part, does not want European countries involved in direct negotiations, complaining they are financing and supplying Ukraine’s military effort.
European leaders also distrust US President Donald Trump to negotiate on their behalf after a series of tense standoffs 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 US support.”
“At the end of the day, we will be the ones to define and decide for our future security as Europeans,” he said.
European leaders are united in wanting a place at the table. But they have tussled over whether Europe should be represented by one person — as Russia has demanded and the US suggested it would prefer — or a team, ultimately opting for the latter.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that “the Europeans squabble like spiders in a jar” and that they should name a representative.
Supporters of a single envoy, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, argued that the absence of a united European voice has allowed individual countries or small groups to engage in freelance diplomacy.
“There are too many different groupings discussing the issue,” she said.
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas laid claim to the envoy role Friday, saying, “I’m the one who is representing Europe in the foreign and security policy.”
“I know that the Russians don’t want me, but, you know, do we have a say, who is representing Russia?” she said. “We can’t send any person that has no institutional role like the Americans are sending.”
The decision to send a team rather than an individual allows for participation by members of the “coalition of the willing”, a group of nations that have pledged to underpin a future ceasefire with military support. That includes the UK, which left the EU in 2020.
Poland is a voice for nations on the EU's eastern flank that face constant hybrid threats from Russia, including influence campaigns and disruptive drones.
It was not immediately clear who would represent the EU's institutions. Speculation had centred on Costa and the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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