Europe will not send a single leader to the next round of talks on Ukraine. Instead, the European position will be represented by a team comprising Germany, France, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives of the European Commission and the European Council.
The decision was taken at the summit in Dublin after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Europe to appoint its representative within a few days. Zelensky made it clear that he would prefer a single person to speak on behalf of the European countries, but European leaders did not meet this request.
The talks are still at the technical level
According to an analysis by “Politico”, quoted by BGNES, the discussion about a single European negotiator overlooked an important feature of the process. The talks in Abu Dhabi were technical discussions between senior officials, rather than a meeting of heads of state and government.
Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump did not take part personally. The Russian team was led by a Kremlin adviser, while the Ukrainian position was defended by the head of military intelligence. If the technical talks lead to progress, political leaders will be able to join at a later stage, when a possible agreement will have to be signed and guaranteed.
Representatives of Ukraine and the United States insisted that Europe join the technical discussions with Russia. This would allow European countries to take part in the talks before a political agreement is reached.
Why one representative is not enough
The main obstacle is the different distribution of powers. The European Commission cannot negotiate the future security architecture of Europe on its own. This issue concerns NATO countries and national governments.
At the same time, NATO, France and Germany cannot negotiate European Union sanctions or Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. These decisions fall within the remit of the European institutions. Germany, France and the United Kingdom would also be unable to hand all the issues over to the European Commission, the European Council or NATO.
“The reason Europe has not found a single person who can represent all of Europe is that Europe is not a superpower,” a European diplomat said.According to him, European interests are not limited to the EU countries. The process also affects the United Kingdom, Norway, Turkey and Moldova. Therefore, issues such as sending troops or providing billions for reconstruction cannot be decided by a single negotiator on behalf of everyone.
The dispute over Europe’s future security
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that what Europe will say is more important than the team’s exact configuration. American and Ukrainian officials believe that discussing changes to the continent’s security structures could encourage a more constructive approach from Russia.
Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, described the European security system as the main topic in Abu Dhabi. According to him, the war in Ukraine has shown that the system that operated after Yalta and Potsdam is not working well.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that the broader security architecture, including NATO’s role and the deployment of troops, should not be discussed before a final peace agreement for Ukraine. EU officials, however, are signaling that the two processes could be conducted in parallel.
Europe’s participation in the talks also remains unsettled. American envoys say that Vladimir Putin has agreed to European countries joining, but the Kremlin is casting doubt on this claim. Thus, the European team has been determined, but its place at the negotiating table has still not been definitively guaranteed.
Sources: btvnovinite.bg