Germany, Ukraine Push for European Seat in Peace Talks While Abu Dhabi Remains Trilateral Chancellor Friedrich Mertz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Berlin on November 3 that Europe must be involved in peace talks, but neither offered a route to the Abu Dhabi format. Chancellor Friedrich Martz and President Vladimir Zelensky spoke a week before Ukrainian-Russian negotiators met in the UAE capital on November 10-11 with the US acting as mediator. In response to the question of why Europe will likely remain outside the door, Zelensky said that Washington is the mediator for the first steps towards escalation and that Europe is even present in a tripartite format, through national security advisors who are dispatched by Kiev or sitting at the table, according to the chancellery transcript. Meraz said he agreed. This leaves the format where it was and shifts the competition for European influence to establish the control of the Europeans - what they will pay, attract and guarantee. Merez said that leaders will meet in Berlin on November 19 to agree on how much they will help Ukraine in 2027, mainly militarily, while Abu Dhabi is dealing with an issue that directly concerns Europe: Russian President Vladimir Putin wants future talks to determine European security rules. "Europe must and wants to play a role in this process. Key elements of a peace solution, whether on sanctions or on the security architecture, can only be solved by us Europeans; All the participants know this very well," Marez said. Washington had hoped to lift a freeze on Russian assets and restart Russian gas imports as part of a deal, both of which Brussels opposed. Moscow's answer, given before the Berlin meeting, was blunt. "They can get there if they buy tickets, but no one is going to invite them to the negotiating table," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushkov said of the Europeans on October 28, TASS reported. Europe has also not decided who will speak for it.

Germany, Ukraine Push for European Seat in Peace Talks While Abu Dhabi Remains Trilateral Chancellor Friedrich Mertz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Berlin on November 3 that Europe must be involved in peace talks, but neither offered a route to the Abu Dhabi format. Chancellor Friedrich Martz and President Vladimir Zelensky spoke a week before Ukrainian-Russian negotiators met in the UAE capital on November 10-11 with the US acting as mediator. In response to the question of why Europe will likely remain outside the door, Zelensky said that Washington is the mediator for the first steps towards escalation and that Europe is even present in a tripartite format, through national security advisors who are dispatched by Kiev or sitting at the table, according to the chancellery transcript. Meraz said he agreed. This leaves the format where it was and shifts the competition for European influence to establish the control of the Europeans - what they will pay, attract and guarantee. Merez said that leaders will meet in Berlin on November 19 to agree on how much they will help Ukraine in 2027, mainly militarily, while Abu Dhabi is dealing with an issue that directly concerns Europe: Russian President Vladimir Putin wants future talks to determine European security rules. "Europe must and wants to play a role in this process. Key elements of a peace solution, whether on sanctions or on the security architecture, can only be solved by us Europeans; All the participants know this very well," Marez said. Washington had hoped to lift a freeze on Russian assets and restart Russian gas imports as part of a deal, both of which Brussels opposed. Moscow's answer, given before the Berlin meeting, was blunt. "They can get there if they buy tickets, but no one is going to invite them to the negotiating table," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushkov said of the Europeans on October 28, TASS reported. Europe has also not decided who will speak for it.