Czech PM: Europe agrees on representation at Ukraine peace talks

European leaders have agreed on a team to represent Europe in negotiations over a possible peace agreement for Ukraine, following talks in Dublin on Friday.

France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom will participate alongside representatives of the European Commission and European Council, European Council President António Costa confirmed.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš described the agreement as progress after recent US–Ukraine–Russia negotiations took place without Europeans directly involved in the main talks.

The arrangement answers a question that has divided European leaders: who should speak for Europe as negotiations develop over the war, now in its fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“It certainly has to be a team; it has to act collectively,” Babiš told journalists after the informal summit of the EU’s 27 member states.

According to Politico, the participating countries will be represented at national security adviser level. The announcement therefore concerns a collective negotiating structure rather than the appointment of a single high-profile envoy.

Babiš had said Thursday that he could envisage Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk or British Prime Minister Andy Burnham representing Europe. He also emphasized Costa’s involvement.

The discussions followed two days of talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi.

European representatives were present there but met Ukrainian and US delegations on the sidelines rather than participating directly in the principal negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US envoy Jared Kushner had already indicated Thursday that Europeans would participate in future peace negotiations.

Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Dublin after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Artificial intelligence was originally intended to be the main subject of the Dublin meeting, but discussions quickly turned toward Ukraine and Europe’s diplomatic role.

Babiš said leaders nevertheless recognized AI’s importance and Europe’s dependence on American computing systems.

Greater technological independence would require changes to bureaucratic barriers and access to sufficient energy, he said.

The Czech prime minister also discussed a European Commission grant competition involving approximately seven projects, which Czechia hopes to access for an AI gigafactory.

He described a combination of private investment, Commission funding and a government contribution linked to using the facility. He mentioned a figure of approximately 2.5 billion but did not specify the currency.

Babiš will next travel to Israel for a three-day visit beginning Monday, meaning he will miss the Nov. 17 commemorations on Prague’s Národní třída.

Asked how he would mark the Velvet Revolution’s 37th anniversary, he said he would pay tribute at the Václav Havel bench in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.