Europe must decide its envoy for Ukraine peace talks in November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday according to [rbk-ukrayina].
European leaders arrived in Ireland on Thursday for the European Political Community summit where discussions regarding the talks are set to continue.
British media outlet The Telegraph reported in late October that five leaders were under consideration for the negotiating role, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Czech President Petr Pavel, [zpravy.aktualne.cz] reported.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told journalists in Dublin on Thursday that he believes specific names will be discussed at Friday’s informal European Union summit, iDNES.cz reported.
“V listopadu se musíme rozhodnout, kdo bude na jednáních zastupovat Evropu, neboť tato osoba získá mandát, na základě kterého bude vyjednávat jménem celé Evropy,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Ukrainian President, according to RBK.
Meloni sent a confidential letter to the European Council president asking for a November discussion in Dublin to appoint an EU negotiator, warning that Europe risks being left without influence in talks to end the war, CNN Prima NEWS reported, citing agencies ANSA and Adnkronos.
Babiš did not specify his preferred candidates in detail, but maintains a strong personal and political relationship with Meloni, whom he has previously called a “skvělá evropská lídryní”, Aktuálně.cz reported.
Czech President Petr Pavel was previously mentioned as a possible candidate, but Babiš did not include him in his proposed list of leaders. Pavel previously supported the idea of a designated representative for European talks with Moscow, but ruled out taking the post himself.
“Já takovou ambici rozhodně nemám,” said Petr Pavel, Czech President, according to Novinky. “Já bych určitě byl rád, kdybych mohl přispět jak zkušeností z NATO, tak i z Evropské unie.”
European leaders must decide on a representative during November discussions, as stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, CNN Prima NEWS reported.
British media outlet The Telegraph reported in late October that five leaders were under consideration: Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Czech President Petr Pavel, Aktuálně.cz reported.