The Kremlin has for the first time allowed for European participation in talks on Ukraine

The Kremlin's change of tone

For the first time, Moscow has signaled that it will not object to the participation of European representatives in talks on a settlement around Ukraine. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, November 14, in an interview with the Telegram channel Yunashev Live that: 'We cannot and do not want to set conditions for their negotiating group. Such an approach is absolutely wrong.' According to him, Moscow first needs to talk with European representatives in order to understand 'to what extent their position could potentially contribute to the peace process.' The Anadolu agency reported this; euronews separately emphasized that this is the first signal of its kind from Moscow.

What has changed

The statement marks a notable shift in the Kremlin's rhetoric: previously Moscow insisted that EU representatives had 'no business' at the negotiating table, and accused Europe of 'prolonging the war' and 'multiplying the suffering of ordinary people' because of its support for Kyiv (this assessment is cited by euronews). In practical terms, this means that the possible participation of an EU delegation in the next round of talks is no longer rejected by Moscow in advance. Context from recent days: on Tuesday, negotiators from the US, Ukraine and Russia held trilateral meetings in Abu Dhabi without the Europeans, and on Thursday American envoy Jared Kushner announced that Russia had agreed to expand the next round of talks to include European representatives. On Friday, EU leaders agreed that Europe would be represented by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the bloc's institutions.

Who will represent Europe — still unclear

European capitals are discussing the appointment of a high-level envoy to represent them directly in the talks, but there is still no single candidate or agreed position on the timing of the start of direct negotiations. Potential candidates mentioned include Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Czech President Petr Pavel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Europe should sit at the same table with the US, Ukraine and Russia in the next round of talks, and that Ukraine expects a decision from its European partners on who will represent Europe by the end of November. Earlier, on October 25, Peskov said that Russia would support the EU appointing a negotiator if that person sincerely seeks a peaceful settlement.