European countries are divided over how much of a role they should have in upcoming US-mediated talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi, with several EU leaders pushing for a broader seat at the negotiating table.
National security advisers from France, Germany, and the UK – the so-called E3 group – are expected to attend the Nov. 10-11 talks, Politico reported, citing three officials familiar with the discussions.
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Germany will be represented by Gunter Sautter, foreign and security policy adviser to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a German government spokesperson told Ukrinform. Berlin said Sautter would coordinate closely with the US, its E3 partners, the EU, and NATO.
However, Italy and Poland are among the countries pushing for broader European involvement. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, and European Council President Antonio Costa have all called for a greater role for European countries.
The disagreement comes as the talks are expected to address a new “European security architecture,” a phrase used by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy.
The prospect of discussing Europe’s security arrangements without broader European participation has raised concerns, particularly in Eastern and Northern Europe.
“The last thing we want is for Western Europe to be making deals with Russia over the heads of Eastern Europeans,” Sikorski told reporters in Warsaw.
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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed on Sunday that French representatives would also attend, saying European countries must be involved in discussions affecting the continent’s future security.
It remained unclear whether EU institutions would have representatives at the talks. A German official described the Abu Dhabi meeting as a “kick-off” session, with further rounds expected, and said E3 representatives would brief a wider group of European participants on the sidelines of the European Political Community meeting in Dublin on Thursday.
An EU official familiar with the preparations said the national security advisers would be in the building or nearby but would not directly participate in the negotiations.
“There can be no discussions about Europe without Europe. And there can be no discussions about the European security architecture – or indeed security at all – without our participation,” an EU diplomat told Politico.
Berlin has also outlined four principles for a potential peace settlement, which it says have been coordinated with Washington. German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Friday that Russia’s war against Ukraine must end before discussions on a new European security order begin.
Any agreement must be part of a comprehensive settlement, have the consensus of NATO allies and include European participation in decisions concerning the continent’s security, Kornelius said.
The upcoming talks between Ukrainian, US, and Russian delegations are scheduled for Nov. 10-11 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.
The previous round of negotiations took place in Geneva in mid-February but failed to produce progress toward ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, launched with its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Source: www.kyivpost.com
