Meloni calls on EU to decide who speaks for Europe in Ukraine peace talks

In brief

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wants the EU to decide who represents the bloc in Ukraine peace negotiations and with what mandate.
• She raised the issue in a letter to European Council president Antonio Costa and proposed discussing it at an informal summit in Dublin next week.
• Meloni warns that fragmented representation undermines EU credibility and asks for a decision by the December leaders' summit.

Letter to the European Council president

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has written to Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, urging the 27-member bloc to decide who will sit at the negotiating table on Ukraine and under what authority (Мелоні закликає ЄС визначити, хто представлятиме Європу на переговорах щодо України – UNIAN) (Мелоні вимагає від ЄС узгодити, хто представлятиме Європу на переговорах щодо України – Європейська правда). She proposed putting the question on the agenda of an informal summit in Dublin next week. A copy of the letter was shared by her office.

Why she says the system is failing

Meloni told Bloomberg-reported correspondence that several negotiators currently speak for EU interests in different formats, and that this fragmentation weakens public trust in the union. She said that when Europe appears uncoordinated, it effectively helps those who want the war to continue, a position she called unacceptable given the stakes for human lives and European security. She also warned that a disorderly sequence of overlapping initiatives would not help relations with partners or persuade Moscow to end what she described as a senseless aggression.

Timing and next steps

Meloni asked EU leaders to be ready to make a decision at their December summit, warning that otherwise the bloc risks reducing Europe's role in the negotiating process to nothing. She stressed that the goal is a single, settled answer on who speaks for the EU and with what mandate. Meloni has said she is not seeking a separate official seat for Italy at the table.