The decision was taken at an informal meeting of EU leaders in Dublin on Friday, 13 November, The Insider reported. The delegation will be made up of national security advisers from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland, according to Bloomberg. The five states have grouped together as the so-called E5.
EU institutions will be represented in the talks by officials from the European Commission and the Council of the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Costa said Europe must speak with a single and clear voice in all discussions that determine the future of Ukraine and the continent. According to him, there is no contradiction between a unified position on Ukraine and representation at the negotiating table by five EU countries together with the institutions.
The names of the specific negotiators have not yet been announced. According to Bloomberg, the advisers will take part in all future talks at the technical level. Günter Sautter, foreign and security policy adviser to the German chancellor, already flew to talks in Abu Dhabi this week. Representatives of NATO, the European Commission and the European Council were also present there.
There is still no leader of the negotiating group who could present it at a higher level. Bloomberg expects the next round of talks before the G20 meeting in mid-December. It will be preceded by a meeting of the "coalition of the willing," which unites Ukraine's allies, next week and a summit in China, where Donald Trump may meet Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
Peskov said on Friday that Russia is ready for talks with representatives of Europe if it has chosen an authorized representative and if it has the desire to talk with Moscow. According to him, Putin has not refused dialogue with Europeans and was not the initiator of the winding down of relations. In May, Putin proposed former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder as Europe's negotiator, which the EU considered unacceptable.