Europe's E5 Group Named for Ukraine Peace Talks

The E5 group—France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and Poland—will represent Europe in Ukraine peace negotiations, as formally announced after an informal EU summit in Dublin on Friday. EU's Antonio Costa confirmed the team includes European institutions and the E5 from the "coalition of the willing." The E5 nations, alongside NATO and EU leaders, participated in recent Abu Dhabi talks led by US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, marking the first Ukrainian-Russian negotiator meeting since February. European leaders also agreed to reject discussions on Europe's security architecture as part of the negotiations. Russia has demanded broad agreement on European security structure before discussing Ukraine war details, a move Latvian PM Andris Kulbergs called "a trap" and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz dismissed as Russia's "old game." Merz stated Europe and the US agree there will be no discussions about Ukraine without Ukraine, or about Europe without Europe.