Merz says Russia has sent positive signals on Europe's role in peace talks

In brief

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Russia is sending more signals that it accepts Europe's role in talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
• Merz named five countries as possible European representatives and said Germany is a guaranteed participant in the first concrete talks.
• Merz urged Washington to avoid surprises and keep acting as part of a Europe and Ukraine team.

Positive signals from Moscow

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that Russia has been sending a growing number of signals that it is prepared to include Europe in negotiations to settle the war in Ukraine. He made the remarks while arriving in Dublin for the European Political Community summit (Мерц заявив про позитивні сигнали з РФ щодо участі Європи у мирних переговорах – Європейська правда).

Merz said he had picked up "some positive signals" from talks held in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11. Europe and the United States have a chance to build a lasting peace order on the continent, he argued, but a long road lies ahead and must be travelled together.

Who sits at the table

Merz said he expected Russia's government and its leader to finally agree to hold talks jointly with Europeans. In his view, Ukraine, the Europeans, the Americans and Russia should all be present. He added that the question of which European representatives would take part should be settled behind closed doors rather than in public.

He said the issue is not which individuals represent Europe but whether Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate. Merz noted that Moscow increasingly accepts that Europe cannot be discussed without Europe.

Five-country format

Merz said he saw no problem with Europe being represented in possible talks by five states: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland (Мерц допустив, що Європу на переговорах щодо України представлятимуть п’ять країн – UNIAN). He pointed out that the E3 format of Germany, France and Britain already exists and that the wider five-nation group is partly in use.

Next steps

Speaking in Dublin on Friday, Merz said European parties are expected to take part in the first concrete peace talks in the coming weeks, probably with the countries whose representatives joined the Abu Dhabi discussions (Мерц: Німеччина буде "гарантованим" учасником мирних переговорів щодо війни в Україні – Українська правда) (Мерц каже, що Німеччина долучиться до мирних переговорів щодо війни в Україні – Європейська правда). He called Germany a guaranteed participant. He also urged Washington to avoid surprises and to keep acting as part of a "Europe team" and a "Ukraine team" (Мерц на тлі майбутніх мирних переговорів закликав США не робити "несподіванок" – Українська правда).

Special US envoy Steve Witkoff said the next meeting of negotiating teams is already scheduled. Merz framed the central question for future talks as what framework could guarantee Ukraine's security once peace is reached, adding that the peace itself must first be achieved.

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