In brief

• European leaders at the Dublin summit insisted Europe must be part of any talks on Ukraine and future European security.
• Macron said the EU needs a clear, united position before choosing a special envoy for negotiations with Russia.
• US and Russian talks in Abu Dhabi and Moscow sidelined Europe, raising concern about the continent's security order.

Europe wants a seat at the table

European Council President António Costa said on Thursday in Dublin that no debate on the future of European security could proceed without Europe. He argued the continent already has a security architecture, which Russia has chosen to destroy, according to his remarks at the closing press conference of the European Political Community summit (Costa odmieta debatu o bezpečnosti Európy bez jej účasti. Obvinil Rusko z eskalácie, pomenoval aj priority EÚ – HNonline.sk). Costa said the main topic of the summit was the peace process to end the war in Ukraine, which the United States is mediating between Kyiv and Moscow.

Macron's condition

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters the bloc must first agree on what it wants for Ukraine and for itself before deciding whether to appoint a special envoy for talks with Russia. He said content should determine form (EÚ potrebuje jasnú víziu pre rozhovory o Ukrajine pred určením vyslanca, povedal Macron – HNonline.sk). Kyiv and Washington have both called on the EU to name a joint envoy, but member states do not share a common position on the idea.

Diplomacy running ahead of Europe

The latest round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States took place in Abu Dhabi, where European representatives were present but did not take part directly. US negotiator Steve Witkoff then travelled to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin and said European countries would join later rounds. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov responded that Europeans were trying to get involved by all means, while accusing EU steps of prolonging the war.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said it was too early to tell whether the recent talks had brought peace closer, and he rejected any idea that Moscow would have a say in NATO decisions (Nie je jasné, či rokovania s Ruskom priblížili mier na Ukrajine, povedal šéf NATO Rutte k schôdzke – HNonline.sk). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to be cautious about US-Russian discussions on a new security order for the continent, saying the issue goes beyond security guarantees for Ukraine (Nejde už len o Ukrajinu. Zelenskyj upozornil na širší plán medzi Washingtonom a Moskvou – Aktuality.sk).

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