EU leaders choose team for Ukraine peace talks after months of wavering

British representatives will be part of a team representing Europe in Ukraine peace talks.

EU leaders have agreed that the team will be made up of non-EU member Britain, together with France, Germany, Italy and Poland, as well as EU institutions.

It comes after months of wavering over who will speak for the continent, and following a summit dominated by European efforts to avoid being sidelined in US-led negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.

European Council President Antonio Costa, who chairs EU ‌summits, told a press conference at the end of a leaders' meeting in Dublin: "Europe must speak with one clear voice and united voice in all discussions that shape the future of Ukraine and ​the security of our continent.

"And this is ultimately a team effort."

It is not yet clear who will be representing the EU's institutions, but speculation had centred on Mr Costa and the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

European leaders are concerned Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, will press US President Donald Trump to back a peace deal which not only weakens Kyiv but broader European security, too.

Putin has demanded NATO troops be pulled back from Russia's borders and that no European forces be deployed in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia would be open to European ​countries taking part in Ukraine peace talks if it saw
they genuinely intended to contribute to peace.

That's after Moscow long insisted that the continent's governments should be excluded because they supported Ukraine.

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"Without Europeans, there is no support for Ukraine," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday at a meeting of the European Political Community in Dublin. "There is no more US support."

"At the end of the day, we will be the ones to define and decide for our future security as Europeans," he said.

Russian officials have also called for a broad agreement on Europe's security architecture to be reached before specifics of the war are addressed.

German Chancellor ​Friedrich Merz described the Kremlin's comments as "the same old game" and said that Europe and the United ⁠States had agreed on a clear message.

"There will be ⁠no discussions about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no discussions about Europe without Europe.

"Furthermore, there is no need to talk about European security architecture. We have that already," Mr Merz said ‌midway through the summit.

Representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the EU attended ‌Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi this week, where both Moscow and Kyiv cited some progress, though there was no sign of a breakthrough on key issues such as territory.

(c) Sky News 2026: EU leaders choose team for Ukraine peace talks after months of wavering