{"id":471149,"date":"2026-11-13T12:13:48","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T11:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/11\/13\/ucraina-lue-divisa-sul-rappresentante-delleuropa-al-tavolo-di-pace\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T12:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T11:47:13","slug":"ukraine-eu-split-over-who-should-represent-europe-at-the-peace-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/11\/13\/ukraine-eu-split-over-who-should-represent-europe-at-the-peace-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine: EU split over who should represent Europe at the peace talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Now that it has been established that Europe will sit at the peace negotiation table<\/a> between Russia and Ukraine, the question remains who will represent the whole of Europe \u2013 the EU and its non-EU allies \u2013 on the delicate path that must lead to an end to the war. Leaders are pondering this issue and are already divided. The idea of a special envoy and a representative does not sit well with many, starting with Germany, which is putting the brakes on. However, it is not just Berlin that favours other approaches. <\/p>\n

There is a group of countries that regard the presidents of the EU institutions as the best options, partly because they are already in place and have already been appointed, and are therefore not subject to new political agreements with uncertain timelines \u2013 as a unanimous consensus would instead require the appointment of a special envoy. \u201cWe already have the people who can represent us,\u201d says the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kristen Michal<\/strong>, naming Ant\u00f3nio Costa, Ursula von der Leyen and also Kaja Kallas (former Estonian Prime Minister) to represent the EU at the negotiating table<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The EU can even choose from three different options: the President of the European Council (Costa), who represents the Member States; the President of the European Commission (von der Leyen), who represents the EU as a whole; the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (Kallas), who acts as the point of contact between national governments and the European Commission.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/05\/11\/ukraine-the-eu-is-considering-its-representative-for-the-distant-negotiations-with-moscow-kallas-puts-herself-forward\/<\/a><\/p>\n

However, there are differing viewpoints, as the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson<\/strong>, points out: \u201cEurope is bigger than the European Union,\u201d he emphasises on the sidelines of the informal summit of Heads of State and Government. He, too, like his Estonian counterpart, acknowledges that \u201cthere are interests that are specific to the EU\u201d which only \u201cthe EU institutions\u201d can defend and represent. This represents an opening towards one of the three figures mentioned.<\/p>\n

 At the same time, Kristersson believes it would be appropriate for \u201cthe larger countries, such as France and Germany, to be present, and the inclusion of Poland and Italy should also be considered\u201d. Not to mention the United Kingdom. So, from Sweden\u2019s perspective, consideration should also be given to a format \u201ccomprising these five plus the European Union<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Luc Frieden<\/strong>, shares the same view: \u201cThere is no doubt that the EU must be at the table\u201d and, in this regard, \u201cAnt\u00f3nio Costa has an important role to play<\/strong>\u201d. This is the view of Luxembourg, as well as of Belgium, which Frieden is representing on an exceptional basis given the absence of the Belgian Prime Minister. However, the Grand Duchy\u2019s head of government adds: \u201cWe are also happy for representatives from the larger countries to be present<\/strong>\u201d. <\/p>\n

It is hard to imagine any more seats for Europeans. The risk is that there will be one seat for several voices, while only one voice is needed. Meanwhile, the EU\u2019s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, is putting herself forward: she says she is “ready” and appears not at all concerned. \u201cI know the Russians don\u2019t want me, but we have no say in who Russia\u2019s representative is\u2026\u201d she cuts short. <\/p>\n

However, the doubts surrounding Kallas’s role seem to stem not so much from Russia as from the European Union itself: from the 40 billion euro initiative on Ukraine that leaders scaled back<\/a> to von der Leyen\u2019s intention to reduce her already limited powers<\/a>, Europeans do not seem convinced by the Estonian, who has also made headlines for taking purely personal initiatives on defence\u2014without consultation\u2014irritating member states.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to France and Germany, the E3 format \u2013 Berlin, Paris, London \u2013 remains the starting point, as these are the three countries that have spearheaded military aid for Kyiv. \u201cThe important thing is that Russia comes to the negotiating table and is prepared to discuss matters. Everything else will then fall into place,\u201d stressed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/strong> yesterday. \u201cWe have tried-and-tested formats within the European Union, and we will also discuss who, if anyone, should represent the European Union, but this is a matter we will address behind closed doors,\u201d he observed, stressing that \u201cat this moment, it is not the individuals that matter; what matters is that Putin is willing to begin talks\u201d. Meanwhile, for Emmanuel Macron<\/strong>, \u201cit is the substance\u201d of what Europeans wish to bring to the table \u201cthat determines the format.\u201d \u201cToday there is a need for Europe to have a clear and united vision\u201d on the negotiations in Ukraine. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni raised the issue in a letter sent to Costa a few days ago,<\/a> showing openness and agreement with the points raised \u2013 precisely to stress that Europe must speak with one voice, representing everyone. \u201cWhether Italy is present or not in this or that format does not change the view that there are too many formats discussing this matter,\u201d stressed the Prime Minister yesterday, adding that she was not opposed to Costa\u2019s proposal while at the same time acknowledging that such a choice would exclude non-EU countries, starting with the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaders have differing views on who should represent the whole of Europe at the negotiating table. Estonia suggests the heads of the Council and the Commission, while Luxembourg and Sweden propose a \u2018team\u2019. France and Germany favour the E3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":471140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[30463,25803,33394,30781],"class_list":["post-471149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-negotiations-of-peace-en","tag-russia-in-2","tag-ue","tag-ukraine-in-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471150,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471149\/revisions\/471150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}