Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned on Thursday that Europe risks becoming irrelevant in negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine unless EU leaders agree on a single representative authorized to speak for the bloc. In a letter to European Council President António Costa, Meloni criticized overlapping diplomatic initiatives involving European governments, Ukraine, the US and NATO. She cited recent meetings in Miami, Oslo and Brussels, as well as direct contacts between Nordic leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meloni questioned Europe's unclear representation at upcoming US-mediated negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11. She demanded that EU governments decide who should negotiate on their behalf and what authority that representative would hold. She proposed leaders discuss the matter at their Nov. 13 summit in Dublin and formally decide in December. Costa agreed to include the issue in Dublin summit discussions but stressed that EU interests must be represented by its institutions under the bloc's treaties. He said Europe needed to act with "coherence, unity and determination," according to ANSA.
Washington is preparing to host trilateral negotiations with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was important that all representatives involved in security guarantees be present at a meeting in Brussels — the EU, NATO and the Americans. He noted that discussions there were taking place on several levels to produce answers for questions that may arise during the discussions in the Emirates. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, the Abu Dhabi talks will focus on identifying security measures and preparing a possible agenda for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
Sybiha said ending the war would not be realistic without the involvement of US President Donald Trump. He called for Europe to assume a stronger complementary role in the diplomatic process. Speaking in Bucharest, he said the recent US midterm election results, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, could create an opportunity for fresh momentum in international support for Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is stepping up efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine back to the negotiating table. He offered to speak to Vladimir Putin after meeting Zelenskyy in Istanbul on Oct. 31. Erdoğan said Turkey's foreign minister and other officials were in contact with both Moscow and Kyiv to explore hosting a meeting in Turkey. He had spoken by telephone with Trump on Oct. 29 to offer Turkey's contribution to restarting the diplomatic process. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were currently no concrete plans for a call between Erdoğan and Putin, though such a call could be arranged at short notice.
Meloni noted that negotiations were increasingly focused on a format where Britain, France and Germany — known as the E3 — play a key role alongside the EU, NATO and Ukraine. She said Rome did not participate in the October Miami meeting or this week's Brussels meeting, though it attended talks in Oslo at Norway's invitation. She said she was not seeking the role for herself or Italy but opposed commitments being negotiated without an agreed mandate. "Otherwise, I fear we risk condemning Europe to irrelevance in the negotiating process," she wrote. Meloni first publicly proposed a single European envoy for the peace negotiations in January.
