The European Union expects to participate in the next round of multilateral peace talks in Ukraine. This was announced by European Commission spokeswoman Ariana Podesta at a briefing in Brussels.
“The expectations are that future negotiations in a multilateral format at a high official level will be held with the participation of the European Union“, Podesta said, quoted by Ukrinform. She specified that representatives of the European Commission and the Council of the EU may attend on the EU side.
The spokeswoman did not confirm or deny the publications about the possible participation of groups of leaders of member states. She recalled that the EU had already been represented at the talks in Oslo.
The format of the meeting has not yet been specified
European Commission spokesman Christian Wiegand pointed out that the peace talks are being held in different formats, at different levels and in different places. They involve heads of state and government, ministers, high-ranking diplomats and representatives of European institutions.
In response to a question about the statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov that the next round would be trilateral, Podesta stressed that at the moment the European Commission only has “expectations” for the EU's participation. The Commission representatives did not specify whether the European representatives would sit at the same table with the Russian side or talk separately with the participants.
Podesta said that the EU is working to ensure that Ukraine enters the negotiations from a strong position and achieve a “just and lasting peace“.
The Oslo talks and the Witkoff - Putin meeting
On October 20, talks were held in Oslo with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US President's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
A day later, Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. The meetings were part of diplomatic efforts to explore the possibility of moving to trilateral or multilateral talks involving Ukraine and Russia.
The Ukrainian president said he would go to the G20 summit in Florida if there was an opportunity to talk with US President Donald Trump and Putin. However, Zelensky has not yet received an invitation to the forum.
The date, venue and final composition of the next round have not yet been announced. It has only been confirmed that the European Commission expects European institutions to be included in future talks.
Sources: ukrinform.ua