Europe to send a diplomat team to Ukraine talks as leaders push for a voice

DUBLIN — Europe will send a team of diplomats from the European Union and five individual countries to the next round of Ukraine talks, a top E.U. official said Friday after a summit focused on how to avoid being shut out of U.S.-led negotiations on ending the nearly five-year war.

European Council President Antonio Costa said the continent will be represented by officials from the 27-nation E.U. bloc and five members of the “Coalition of the Willing” that backs Ukraine: the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Poland.

“We need to integrate all of us. And for this it’s essential to have a team and to speak with only one voice,” Costa said.

European leaders have been concerned that a U.S.-backed process will leave them sidelined and Kyiv vulnerable as Moscow and Washington decide the fate of a conflict that has roiled the continent.

Ukraine is eager for support from its European allies. It’s reluctant to leave the talks solely in the hands of a U.S. administration that has often seemed to lean toward Moscow’s views. Russia does not want European countries involved in direct negotiations, complaining they are financing and supplying Ukraine’s military effort.

European leaders also distrust U.S. President…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world