Europe Haggles Over Who Will Represent It in Talks With Russia

Supported by Europe Haggles Over Who Will Represent It in Talks With Russia After coveting a seat in the Ukraine war discussions, Europe is poised to get one. Deciding who should speak for the continent is its own negotiation. European leaders have waited on the margins of negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine for months, eyeing a seat at the table. Now they finally expect to get one, and they don’t know who should sit in it. “If Europe could identify one person to speak on their behalf, that would be a bigger achievement than getting the Russians to include them in the negotiation,” Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and one of his two envoys, said on Thursday. Mr. Kushner’s dig reflected a harsh — and, for Europe, potentially embarrassing — reality that internal divisions could cost European officials time and influence. Mr. Kushner and his fellow lead U.S. negotiator, Steve Witkoff, pushed this week to add the Europeans to the talks after Russia insisted during discussions in the United Arab Emirates that postwar security in Europe be a topic of negotiation. Russian negotiators made it clear during the talks with Ukraine and the United States that as a condition of ending the war, they want Europe to change how it protects itself. Russia has a record of pushing to pare back NATO operations near its border. European officials have rejected those suggestions, insisting that the continent, not the Kremlin, decides its own security. But Mr. Kushner and Mr. Witkoff expressed openness to expanding the scope of the talks to try to break the impasse on discussions about the war. Related Content Advertisement