'No One Will Speak in Our Name': Europe Seeks Seat at Ukraine Talks

Europe is pressing for a formal role in U.S.-mediated talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi, with France and the EU confirming they will send representatives.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday that Europeans would be “well represented” at the Nov. 10–11 talks and that France would take part.

He said European governments had made clear to U.S. mediators that “no one will speak in our name” on matters affecting the continent’s security.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed the EU’s presence Monday after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has called for Kyiv’s European allies to help shape any security guarantees.

A joint EU team is expected to attend alongside officials from France, Germany, the U.K. and NATO.

The talks were announced as working-level negotiations among U.S., Ukrainian and Russian officials.

The agenda includes a possible ceasefire, postwar security arrangements, prisoner exchanges and the return of deported Ukrainian children.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has ruled out European participation in the trilateral format while leaving room for separate discussions on European security.

U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner has said Washington will consult European partners on the sidelines and could bring them directly into a broader format if the talks make progress.

Europe’s Negotiating Mandate

President Donald Trump has predicted a major agreement with Russia on Ukraine that could extend to all of Europe.

He gave no details. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has pointed to decisions on sanctions relief, frozen Russian assets and reconstruction as areas where the bloc would have a role in implementing any settlement.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for EU leaders to agree on who should represent the bloc and what authority that person would have to negotiate.

In a letter to European Council President António Costa, she warned that overlapping diplomatic initiatives risked “condemning Europe to irrelevance.”

Costa agreed to put the issue on the agenda for the Nov. 13 leaders’ meeting in Dublin.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is expected to join G7 counterparts in Paris on Tuesday for a session on support for Kyiv.

In Poland, the French- and British-led coalition of the willing is holding an exercise involving 2,800 troops from 11 countries through Nov. 22 to test its readiness to help provide security guarantees after the war.