In Dublin, after days of quiet maneuvering, the leaders of the European Union settled who would speak for a continent that had long wanted a place at the table where its own future was being discussed. Their answer was not one negotiator but six: Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Italy, joined by the two bodies that govern the union. It is a choice shaped as much by Russia's insistence that European security be placed on the agenda as by Europe's own reluctance to be spoken for by others. Whether a chorus of six can carry a single melody remains the open question that history will answer in
Europe Settles on a Six-Member Team to Represent It in Ukraine Talks With Russia
Europe's seat at the table comes with six people sitting in it
Mark
Why did Europe end up with six negotiators instead of one?
Mimi
Because each seat answers a different worry. EU institutions cover the smaller members, Poland speaks for the states near Russia, and Britain is there though it's outside the union.
Mark
And Washington's reaction?
Luke
Kushner mocked it in advance, saying picking one person would be a bigger feat than getting Russia to accept Europe in the talks. That's his view, though, not a measured assessment of how the team will perform.
Mimi
Costa's answer was that America has two envoys too. Von der Leyen stressed that Europe chooses its own representatives.
Mark
What does Russia want from this?
Mimi
It made European security arrangements a condition for ending the war. Europeans reject that, with Luxembourg's Frieden saying outsiders shouldn't discuss a house they don't live in.
Luke
Worth noting that Putin's willingness comes from Kushner's account of a Kremlin meeting. He said Putin was willing to give it a try. We haven't heard that from Moscow in the reporting.
Mark
Is the team united?
Luke
Unknown. There's a history: France and Germany criticized Costa in June when his office tried to reopen contact with Russia. Whether the six align under pressure hasn't been tested.
Mimi
Merz's Anchorage warning shows the nerves about what Washington might concede.
Mark
So what should we watch?
Luke
Whether the six speak with one voice when security concessions are actually proposed.
Il Polso
- Europe got its seat at the Ukraine peace talks, but the chair had to be filled, and the EU chose six voices instead of one.
- Washington's envoys mocked the continent's inability to pick a single spokesperson, and European leaders bristled at the jab.
- Moscow has made clear that postwar security arrangements in Europe, including NATO's posture near its border, are part of the price of peace.
- Poland, Britain and the EU institutions are pressing to ensure that no rules for the region are written over Europe's head.
- Leaders warn of another Anchorage moment, and the team must speak with one voice before U.S. envoys and Moscow press for concessions.
In Dublin, after days of quiet maneuvering, the leaders of the European Union settled who would speak for a continent that had long wanted a place at the table where its own future was being discussed. Their answer was not one negotiator but six: Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Italy, joined by the two bodies that govern the union. It is a choice shaped as much by Russia's insistence that European security be placed on the agenda as by Europe's own reluctance to be spoken for by others. Whether a chorus of six can carry a single melody remains the open question that history will answer in the rooms still to come.
In Dublin on Friday, the leaders of the European Union finally settled a question that had been hanging over them for days: who would sit at the table to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Having secured the right to a seat, they now had to decide who would occupy it. They chose six: Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Italy, along with a representative from the European Council and one from the European Commission.
The choice carries the marks of an old argument. An American envoy had mocked the continent for its inability to name a single person to speak for it, and European leaders rejected that framing, insisting that Europe had decided for itself. Behind the arrangement lies a demand from Moscow: that Europe's postwar security be on the agenda, including the question of how far NATO operations should reach toward Russia's border. European officials have answered that the continent, not the Kremlin, decides its own security.
The six-member format is a balancing act. Smaller nations gain a voice through the EU institutions, Britain gains a seat despite standing outside the union, and Poland speaks for eastern neighbors who fear they are not being fully understood. Yet the mood is tense. Chancellor Merz warned that the moment could become another Anchorage, and President Zelensky urged the leaders to act quickly and to pay attention.
Europe's line is firm: territorial integrity, respect for borders and international law will not be surrendered. The question now is whether six voices can truly sound as one when pressure mounts from Washington and Moscow alike.
In Dublin on Friday, European Union leaders settled a question that had hung over them for days: who would sit in the chair they had spent months wanting. They had learned this week that Europe would get a seat in the talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine. The only job left was to name one official to fill it. They named six.
The team will draw on Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Italy, plus one representative from the European Council and the European Commission, the EU's leadership bodies. The choice fits a jibe Americans have made about the continent. Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and a U.S. envoy, said earlier this week that if Europe could identify one person to speak for it, that would be a bigger achievement than getting the Russians to include Europeans in the negotiations.
European leaders pushed back on that framing. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Europe decides who represents it, and that it had done so. António Costa, president of the European Council, told a news conference that Europe must work as a team, and noted that America itself has two envoys. Those two, Mr. Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushed this week to bring Europe in after Russia insisted, during discussions in the United Arab Emirates, that postwar security in Europe be on the agenda.
That Russian demand explains why Europeans wanted in. Moscow's negotiators made clear in the talks with Ukraine and the United States that, as a condition for ending the war, they want Europe to change how it protects itself. Russia has a record of pressing to pare back NATO operations near its border. European officials have rejected the idea, saying the continent, not the Kremlin, decides its security. Luc Frieden, prime minister of Luxembourg, said he did not want anyone talking about the European house if they were not living in it. On Thursday, Mr. Kushner told reporters at an air base in Dublin, after a meeting with the Kremlin, that President Vladimir V. Putin had been asked about European negotiators and was willing to give it a try.
The six-member format is built to balance several tensions. Smaller EU nations do not always trust the largest to reflect their interests, and here the EU institutions speak for them. Britain and Norway have financial and security stakes but are outside the union; Britain gets a seat. Eastern countries bordering Russia doubt that western ones grasp the depth of the threat, and Poland is there for them. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday that Poland will not allow new security rules for the region to be set over its head, without Poland or Europe having a say.
The institutional seat has its own history. Mr. Costa has long argued that the EU must be represented because it controls a large set of sanctions against Russia, which Moscow wants rolled back, and because Ukraine's potential EU membership is something Kyiv wants as a security guarantee. Yet when his office tried in June to reopen lines of communication with Russia, France and Germany criticized him for overreaching.
The stakes are high and the mood is tense. Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany warned Friday that this could become another Anchorage moment, a reference to the summit where Mr. Trump alarmed Ukraine and its European allies with sympathy toward Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told dozens of leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday that Europe really needs to pay attention, and he had urged them to choose quickly. Also on Friday, Ukraine's domestic intelligence service, the S.B.U., said its forces had attacked a Russian warship this week; analysts placed it in the Gulf of Finland.
Europe says it will insist on territorial integrity, respect for borders and respect for international law. Mr. Frieden said that if those principles are given up, other European countries could be attacked in the short or medium term, which he called a disaster for Europe. The open question is whether six voices can sound like one when the U.S. envoys and Moscow press for concessions on security.
Citazioni salienti
We decide on who represents us, and that is what we have done today.— Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission
Under no circumstances will we allow new security rules for this part of the world to be established over our heads.— Donald Tusk, prime minister of Poland
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su The New York Times ↗