Ukraine Warupdated 28m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 21 July 2019Zelenskyy Urges Europe To Quickly Name Representative For Talks With Russia
5 Western Mainstream3 West Asian1 Asian3 Other source typesPhoto: Mykola Lazarenko / Presidential Office of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Zelenskyy calls for Europe to designate a single representative for peace talks. Ideally one person with EU and allied states' mandate to speak for Europe.
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Europe’s seat at talks
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European countries to decide fast who will represent them in peace talks with Russia, saying, “I think that in November, not later, we need to accept who will represent Europe in negotiations.” Zelenskyy argued that one person should have a mandate from the EU and other non-EU countries that have backed Ukraine, such as the U.K. and Norway, because “unity” is important, and he said he wanted a “dialogue” with the EU and other European powers over representation. Zelenskyy said he hoped Europe could “fix it” not later than the end of November, “better in Germany on 19th [at a Coalition of the Willing meeting],” and he linked the push to Europe’s role in talks with Russia and the United States.
“‘I think that in November, not later, we need to accept who will represent Europe in negotiations,’ he said.”
The negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. resumed in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, and American officials made clear they wanted Europe fully at the table next time the negotiations take place. The dispute over representation comes as EU countries remain split over who should represent them, or whether they should be talking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin at all, and leaders are due to grapple with these questions at a summit in Dublin later this week.
Dublin talks and competing envoys
European allies debated how to designate a single delegation for peace negotiations in Ukraine, with meetings in Dublin seeking an interlocutor to negotiate a ceasefire while Zelenskiy urged speed, saying, “Europe must have a seat at the negotiations.” The ABC account said Zelensky, who would also be in Dublin, urged European allies to choose this representative as soon as possible to avoid Russia’s veto on European participation in a process that aims to end the war. The same ABC account described how, when the European representation for the talks held in Abu Dhabi under U.S. mediation was being prepared, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa each designated their own representative.
ABC also said Giorgia Meloni sent a letter to Antonio Costa complaining that countries maintained separate initiatives and contacts without sufficient coordination, and it said Meloni proposed that a single special envoy be designated to avoid “cacophonies.” The dispute over representation is set to be discussed at an informal European Council in Dublin, preceded by an EPC meeting that brings together EU neighbors sharing the essential values, and ABC said it would be the third time that Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is also included.
Prisoners, security architecture, and leverage
The Abu Dhabi round between Russia, Ukraine and the United States ended without major advances toward peace, but it produced a new large-scale exchange of prisoners of war, with the Kremlin again demanding the handover of Ukrainian territories to Russia.
“This is an easy way to talk to the Russians: pressure us to leave Donbas, and there will be a deal. We are not ready for such a deal.”
El País reported that Vladimir Medinsky said, “We found mutual understanding in some aspects, but not in others [...] We will work on it,” and it said the talks also included a debate on the future of NATO in Europe within a new security system for the continent.
El País said the negotiations on the framework for European security did not include representatives from NATO, the European Union, or other bloc countries by explicit decision of Russia, while Medinsky said, “As soon as the Europeans wake up, they will be able to participate in the peace negotiations.”
Zelenskyy, speaking in Dublin, rejected territorial concessions by saying, “This is an easy way to talk to the Russians: pressure us to leave Donbas, and there will be a deal. We are not ready for such a deal.”
Zelenskyy also said that during the Abu Dhabi negotiations, representatives of Russian military intelligence claimed their troops had occupied half of the areas of Donbas that remain under Ukrainian control, and he said the Ukrainian delegation provided evidence that those claims were false.