EU leaders pressed to name a peace-talks envoy as Kremlin demands clarity

European leaders gathered in Dublin for an informal European Council meeting on Friday under pressure to nominate a single figure to represent the EU in US-mediated talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine.

The question became urgent after US envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters that the Europeans would be present at the next meetings. At the summit of 47 European leaders, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas was asked why Europe should get one seat at the table while the United States gets two; she responded with a wry, ironic laugh.

Kallas said Moscow had no say over who represented the European Union. "First we need a ceasefire," she said, warning that discussing Russia's demands on the security architecture would divert attention from the absence of a ceasefire. She said Russia did not want "anybody strong" at the negotiating table because "they want to push through their maximum demands."

The Kremlin has not yet agreed to an expanded format. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia needs clarity on the EU's "real intentions" before deciding, and that Moscow would talk to the Europeans if they had someone at least authorised to negotiate. "Once we understand their real intentions," he said, "we can make a decision on holding talks in an expanded format."

Russia's lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said after the latest trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday that "Russia did not receive single concrete peace proposal from European countries."

The Dublin meeting followed a diplomatic tour by Witkoff and Jared Kushner to talks in Abu Dhabi and a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, after which the pair travelled to Dublin to debrief President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky and Kushner said on Thursday that Europeans would be at the table for the next talks.

Kallas and EU Council President Antonio Costa are among the figures tipped to represent the EU; no single figure has been agreed, with many national leaders wanting to attend themselves.

Overnight drone attacks killed people in both countries. In Odesa, authorities said two people had been killed and five others injured, with one person reportedly injured in an attack on a hospital. A Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia killed a 17-year-old boy, acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said. In Volgograd, four people were killed and two others injured, the regional government said.

Russia's Investigative Committee opened an inquiry into the explosion of a car belonging to Sergei Zavorotniy, a former spokesman for Mykola Azarov, who served as Ukraine's prime minister from 2010 to 2014. He was hospitalised and lost his left arm, and also sustained a concussion and rib fractures, according to Russian media including Kommersant and the 112 Telegram channel. It was the second reported car explosion in Russia in two days, after the death of a Russian serviceman in Saint Petersburg on Thursday.