Merz says Germany will take part in Ukraine peace talks
European leaders are still discussing who should speak for the continent in negotiations to end the war.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany’s participation in future peace talks on Ukraine was assured, even as European leaders discussed how the continent should be represented.
Merz said he expected the talks to involve the group of Europeans who met in Abu Dhabi earlier in the week, according to an ANP and AFP report published by Nieuws.nl. He made the remarks on the sidelines of Friday’s EU summit in Dublin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Jared Kushner said after meeting in Dublin on Thursday that Europe would be part of the next round of talks. Zelensky said Europe would send a negotiating team.
European leaders were considering whether to choose one person or a team, but had not yet reached consensus on who should take the role, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
On Thursday, Merz pointed to the E3 group of Germany, France and the UK as an established format. He said the three countries sometimes worked with Italy and Poland as a group of five, an arrangement he saw no problem in continuing.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on arriving in Dublin that she expected to conduct such talks on the EU’s behalf alongside European Council President António Costa.
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