A letter to Costa

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has warned that Europe risks becoming irrelevant in negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine unless EU leaders agree on a single representative empowered to speak for the bloc. In a letter to European Council President António Costa on Thursday, she demanded that the 27 member states decide "once and for all" who sits at the negotiating table on behalf of the European Union, and with what mandate.

Meloni said competing diplomatic initiatives were making Europe less credible and giving the impression the bloc was proceeding in "random order". She warned that without a clear mandate, Europe could be "condemned to irrelevance".

Too many formats

The Italian leader listed recent meetings held in different formats, some without all EU partners present, including talks in Miami, a meeting in Oslo and a phone call by the leaders of Finland and Norway with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

She also pointed to meetings still to come, including a Coalition of the Willing gathering in Berlin on 19 November and US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi on 10–11 November, at which no formal EU participation is currently planned.

No seat sought for Italy

Meloni stressed that she was not asking for a seat at the table for herself or for Italy, and said Rome would not accept commitments negotiated without an EU mandate. She asked Costa to put the issue on the agenda of the informal European Council in Dublin next week, with a formal decision at the December summit. Costa agreed to set aside time for the discussion. Meloni first called for a single European envoy in January; her renewed push comes as US President Donald Trump has predicted a "very big" deal with Russia involving "all of Europe".