Confusion over who could speak at peace talks must be clarified by the end of November, the former actor has demanded<\/p>\n
Vladimir Zelensky has demanded that a Western European representative be approved to join the peace talks initiated by the US, Russia and Ukraine by the end of November.
\nSpeaking in Copenhagen as trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi closed with a confirmation that Western Europe has effectively been sidelined from the discussions, Zelensky insisted that \u201cwe need to choose who will represent Europe in the negotiations. This would be better, as they would receive a mandate for the talks \u2013 a mandate from all of Europe.\u201d
\nThe decision must be made \u201cno later than the end of November\u201d or during the meeting of Kiev\u2019s Western European backers in Berlin on the 19th of the month.
\nSpeaking following the Abu Dhabi trilaterals, US envoy Jared Kushner pointed out that \u201cif Europe could identify one person to speak on their behalf, that would be a bigger achievement than getting the Russians to include them in the negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Putin aide reveals outcome of trilateral Ukraine talks<\/p>\n
The Western European countries have refused to negotiate with Moscow practically since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Recent attempts to reopen a dialogue with them have only exposed divisions.
\nItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni complained last week that the EU was \u201call over the place\u201d on the issue, undermining its own credibility.
\nLast month, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store came under fire from fellow EU leaders for breaking ranks and unilaterally contacting Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow welcomed the engagement, despite it not leading to any breakthroughs.
\nMoscow has said repeatedly that Europe has lost its credibility because it continues to supply weapons and funds to Ukraine and discusses the need to deliver a strategic defeat to Russia. It also rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire coming from Brussels, arguing that they are only set up to win time for Kiev to reconstitute its forces.
\nStubb, Store, Meloni as well as Czech President Petr Pavel and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who has already rejected the job, have all been mentioned by the media as possible candidates to become the sole European representatives in the negotiations.<\/p>\n
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When asked by journalists after the discussions in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday about when the Europeans could become full-fledged participants of the peace talks, Russia\u2019s top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, replied that it will only happen \u201cwhen they grow a conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Confusion over who could speak at peace talks must be clarified by the end of November, the former actor has demanded Vladimir Zelensky has demanded that a Western European representative…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t