ABU DHABI — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said European countries supporting his cause must decide fast who will represent them in peace talks.
That means ideally one person should have a mandate from the EU and other non-EU countries who have backed Ukraine, such as the U.K. and Norway, because “unity” is important, he suggested.
“I think that in November, not later, we need to accept who will represent Europe in negotiations,” he said. “It will be better because they will get [a] mandate for negotiations and they will get a mandate from all Europe, all this coalition.”
With Europe set to take on a more important role in talks with Russia and the United States, Zelenskyy’s comments join a growing chorus of demands for the EU and others to unite behind one top negotiator or a small team at the highest level.
Speaking to reporters during his trip to Denmark on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader said he wanted a “dialogue” with the EU and other European powers over who will represent them. He said it would be “better” this way, rather than just presenting their answer to Ukraine, which is “not good, really.”
“I hope that not later than the end of November — better in Germany on 19th [at a Coalition of the Willing meeting] — fix it. We will see.”
Europe has been struggling to work out a plan for how to engage in top-level dialogue with Moscow and Washington over ending the war in Ukraine. Despite providing most of the foreign financing for Ukraine’s war effort, EU countries have been split over who should represent them, or whether they should be talking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin at all.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last week blasted the European Union’s engagement with the peace talks as “all over the place.”
Leaders are due to grapple with these questions at a summit in Dublin later this week.
As talks with Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. resumed in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, American officials made clear they wanted Europe fully at the table next time the negotiations take place. That is partly because the U.S. wants to bring a review of wider European security arrangements for Europe into the negotiations over peace in Ukraine — a longstanding Russian demand.