Poland will be among the countries that, on behalf of Europe, take part in talks on ending the war in Ukraine, European Council President Antonio Costa said after the informal EU summit in Dublin. Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks of the strongest support for the E5 format.
The E5 format and EU institutions
According to Antonio Costa, besides Poland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as the institutions of the European Union, will take part in the talks. The decision was announced on Friday, 13 November, following an informal meeting of the leaders of the 27 states in Dublin.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the discussion at a briefing. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister published his words on X:
Earlier, the head of government said that after the summit he had received congratulations from many leaders, because, as he assessed, Poland will play a key role.
The limits of concessions
Tusk also made clear what position Poland will take at the table. According to him, there can be no talk of revising the security architecture in Europe, and talks on a “just peace” for Ukraine must not lead to changes in Russia’s favour.
A dispute over who represents Europe
The question of representation was disputed before the summit. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pointed to the E3 group (Germany, France, the United Kingdom) and to the “quintet” with Italy and Poland. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in a letter to Costa, called for the formats to be organised and for a special European envoy, and at her request the issue was placed on the agenda of the Dublin meeting. The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas argued that, under the treaties, responsibility for security matters lies with Costa and herself.
Until now, Poland had taken part in the talks only occasionally. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski backed Meloni before the summit and warned that the interests of Eastern European countries must be taken into account.
Background to the talks
The Dublin summit took place while talks between the USA, Russia and Ukraine were under way in Abu Dhabi – we wrote about them in our article about the Abu Dhabi talks and the US drive for a “final end” to the war. Earlier, a joint team of EU institutions and the E3 states and Italy was present in Abu Dhabi.
As of publication, it has not been announced who will specifically represent Poland in the talks or when the next round will take place.
