Merz: Germany to Join Ukraine War Peace Talks in Coming Weeks
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at an informal EU leaders' meeting in Dublin that Germany will take part in talks on ending the war in Ukraine, which are to include Europeans for the first time. Moscow says it has not yet agreed to let Europeans join the US-led process.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at an informal meeting of European Union (EU) leaders in Dublin that Germany will definitely take part in talks on ending the war in Ukraine in the coming weeks. According to him, the talks will for the first time involve European participation, although Russia has not confirmed such involvement so far.
"Germany will definitely be there, that is perfectly clear," Merz said. He added that Europe will continue to represent its common interests.
Background
During this week's talks in Abu Dhabi, European representatives held separate meetings with the Ukrainian delegation but did not attend the US-led sessions between Kyiv and Moscow. That raised the question of who would represent Europe in negotiations with Russia.
On Thursday, US envoy Jared Kushner said Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to accept European involvement in the process. However, Moscow said today that it has not yet agreed to allow Europeans to join the US-led talks.
Who will take part
Merz expects the same group of European representatives that was in Abu Dhabi to take part: representatives of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the EU and NATO.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, for her part, urged the leaders to follow the existing EU rules. Under them, she, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen represent the EU on foreign and security policy matters.
