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EU forms joint team with France, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK and EU institutions. Spain is excluded from the European representation for Ukraine-Russia peace talks.

European leaders agreed in Dublin on November 13 on a representation formula for diplomatic efforts concerning Ukraine, with the European Union institutions and five countries set to sit at the negotiating table with Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.

Antonio Costa said the leaders agreed that their European team for negotiations on peace in Ukraine would be formed by “the EU institutions and the five E5 countries of the Coalition of the Willing,” naming France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Spain was left out of the negotiating team, and multiple accounts tied that exclusion to Pedro Sánchez’s absence from the Dublin summit.

The dispute over representation also left Kaja Kallas sidelined in the process, with one account saying the High Representative “will not occupy precisely the role entrusted to her” and another saying leaders declined to appoint a single envoy.

European leaders framed the decision as organizational and political, with one account stressing that the approach aims to avoid contradictory messages while recognizing that governments’ powers and positions are not identical.

Kaja Kallas argued for the envoy role by saying, “I’m the one who is representing Europe in the foreign and security policy,” and she added, “I know that the Russians don’t want me, but, you know, do we have a say, ‘Who is representing Russia?’” Antonio Costa countered Kallas’s push by insisting that “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,” while also describing the arrangement as a team effort.

Giorgia Meloni warned that “There are too many different groupings discussing the issue,” and she argued that the absence of a united European voice had enabled freelance diplomacy.

Russian officials rejected the idea of European participation in direct negotiations, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “The Europeans squabble like spiders in a jar.” U.S. envoy Jared Kushner pressed for European inclusion by saying, “We cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table,” while also stating that Putin “is willing to give it a try.”

European leaders said the representation decision does not mean Russia has accepted all European conditions or that a peace treaty exists, and they pointed to divergences over occupied territories, the sequencing of steps toward a ceasefire, and the architecture of regional security.

The sources also said the United States, NATO allies, and Ukraine’s neighboring countries would closely monitor the outcome of the negotiations, and they emphasized that a healthy negotiation requires constructive dialogue and verification mechanisms for commitments.

Kaja Kallas’s supporters and critics continued to clash over whether the EU should have a single voice, with one account saying Kallas argued Moscow does not want her at the table because “they don’t want anyone strong” on the European side.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs told AFP that Russia was “not in a position” to seek new security arrangements from Europe, and he argued that Europe’s size and capabilities mattered for what could be put on the table.

The next concrete items at the summit included a commitment to provide Ukraine with financial and military assistance and a plan for sanctions, with one account quoting Ursula von der Leyen announcing the presentation of the next sanctions package against Russia, the twenty-second since the start of the aggression.