Symbolic imageEU names five-nation team for Ukraine talks as Moscow sets security conditions
EU leaders in Dublin agreed that Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the UK, plus EU institutions, will represent Europe in expanded talks with the US, Russia and Ukraine. The Kremlin is noncommittal on a European seat.
The agreement, announced by Council President António Costa after the informal summit on Friday, 13 November, ended a dispute that had smoldered since Wednesday. According to Handelsblatt, a proposal to make EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas Europe's envoy lacked sufficient support. Who would sit at the table in a meeting of leaders with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky remains open. US envoy Jared Kushner said after meeting Putin in Moscow on Thursday that both Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to include Europeans in the next round. On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian delegation's composition is stable and Putin would decide on an expansion if it made sense.
Moscow's security demands
Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin had recalled Russia's 2021 draft agreements: no NATO enlargement, no threatening weapons near Russian borders, and a return to the alliance's force configuration of 1997. FAZ counts 16 of NATO's 32 members as affected. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said there is no need to talk about European security architecture, Kallas said it risks diverting attention from a ceasefire, and Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs called it "a trap".
Largest prisoner swap planned
Kushner wrote on X that Washington is working toward the largest prisoner exchange of the war, potentially reuniting thousands of people with their families. He gave no details, and said significant differences remain, notably on territory.