DUBLIN — It was supposed to all be about how Europe faces up to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. Not for the first time at a summit of EU leaders, more pressing concerns are getting in the way.
And, as has so often been the case since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it’s that conflict which is set to dominate proceedings in Dublin.
The EU is at odds over who should represent it in any peace talks. When officials from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. met in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, Europe was only on the fringes. Most European leaders say that must change ― but working out how and with whom is easier said than done.
Friday is the second day of meetings in the Irish capital. Thursday’s gathering of 50 leaders under the banner of the European Political Community included several discussions involving smaller groups, chats with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a debrief from Donald Trump’s envoys who had earlier met Putin in Moscow.
We’ll bring you the best of the action, from the latest on the Ukraine arguments to the AI discussions and other items which might crop up, like the race to succeed Christine Lagarde at the head of the European Central Bank and the never-ending back-and-forth over the EU’s next seven year budget.