Europe's security cannot be part of Russia-Ukraine peace talks, EU leaders say

EU leaders said on Friday that Europe's security structure should not be a subject for Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, but did not answer who should speak for Europe in future talks. The Kremlin said Russia would be open to European participation if Europe contributes to the peace process. Merz called the Kremlin's comments "the same old game."

European Union leaders said on Friday that Europe's security structure should not be a subject for Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, but they did not answer the question of who should speak for Europe in any future talks. The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia would be open to European countries taking part in Ukraine peace talks if it saw they were ready to contribute to the peace process. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the Kremlin's comments as "the same old game" and said that Europe and the United States agreed on a clear message. "There will be no discussions about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no discussions about Europe without Europe. Furthermore, there is no need to talk about European security architecture. We have that already," Merz told reporters during a summit of European Union leaders in Dublin. Russian officials have called for a broad agreement on Europe's security architecture to be reached before tackling the specifics of the war. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Russian calls for discussions about Europe's security architecture risked diverting attention from the need for a ceasefire. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs called such discussions "a trap." EU leaders broadly agreed that Europe needed to speak with one voice, and agreed that Germany, France, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and EU institutions will represent them in talks with United States, Russia and Ukraine, four sources told Reuters.