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Europe is going to Abu Dhabi anyway. European officials will be represented at the US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this week, France's foreign minister announced on Sunday — days after the Kremlin insisted there could be no role for European powers at the meeting.
The talks, set for Tuesday and Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates, were presented as a three-way session between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv. Europe's decision to turn up regardless turns a carefully staged trilateral into something messier — and, arguably, more honest about who any lasting settlement actually needs.
How Europe forced its way in
According to reports from NPR and Dawn, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French radio station RTL on Sunday: "The Europeans will be represented and France will be in Abu Dhabi to participate in these talks. France will be there and will ensure that Europe's voice is heard."
Barrot did not say who would represent Paris, or whether French or other European officials would take part directly in the negotiations or simply observe. But the message was unambiguous — and it came after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had ruled out a European role, saying the trilateral format had already been agreed. Peskov also conceded that security talks will eventually need Europe at the table, a contradiction that captures the Kremlin's position: not welcome yet, but indispensable later.
On Monday, the European Union confirmed it will send a joint team of senior officials, led by Bjoern Seibert, chief of cabinet to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Anna-Maria Boura, chief foreign policy adviser to European Council President António Costa. They will be joined by the E3 — France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Von der Leyen said the EU "will be present alongside our partners" after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Who is at the table
This will be the fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine brokered by the Trump administration, and the first since those in Geneva this February. The US will be represented by special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Russia's delegation will again be led by Vladimir Medinsky, the hardline Putin aide who has participated in most talks since March 2022 — joined this time, for the first time, by deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov. Ukraine's delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, alongside Kyrylo Budanov, Sergiy Kyslytsya and Davyd Arakhamia.
The agenda, according to US envoy Witkoff, covers post-war security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian issues. Ahead of the sessions, American negotiators met European, Ukrainian and NATO officials in Brussels on Thursday, with Kushner joining by videolink.
What Trump is promising — and what Kyiv has not seen
President Trump has said he believes the war will end soon, and after meeting Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev last week he predicted a "very big" deal with Russia that "might involve all of Europe". But Zelenskyy told CNN on Friday that nobody has given him details of whatever Trump is describing — a gap between the American president's optimism and the Ukrainian side's information that will hang over the Abu Dhabi room.
The talks also open against a grim backdrop at home. Russian strikes have just cut power to 850,000 people in Ukraine as winter approaches, as we reported this morning — a reminder that the war continues to be fought on the grid while diplomats talk about ending it.
Whether Europe's presence changes the outcome is unknowable before the first session. What is knowable is that the format has already changed: a negotiation the Kremlin wanted kept to three parties will now have a fourth voice in the room, one that has insisted on being heard. In diplomacy, that is sometimes the whole point.