Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.

EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.

You can find the transcript here if you prefer reading:

A new negotiation session ended yesterday between Ukraine and Russia, under the leadership of the United States. The EU, once again, did not take part in the peace talks, despite having long asked to do so.

Has the EU given up on participating in the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia?

“It is clear that for any deal to work, Europeans need to be on board, because this war is happening on our continent. And we have seen that the Americans have not supported Ukraine for almost a year now.”

These are the words of Kaja Kallas, high representative of the EU for external affairs.

The European Union has always been stating, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, that it needs to be part of any peace negotiations, because its own future is also at stake. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been holding the same line. Nevertheless, the EU has been sidelined by both the US and Russia.

The peace talks started in Abu Dhabi last month and continued in Geneva this week, do not include the EU. Because Vladimir Putin has been refusing its participation.

The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov repeated at the end of January that Russia would never negotiate anything with the European Union.

Moscow has no interest in having the EU at the table, because Europeans would side 100 percent with Ukraine. The US, on the other hand, are more neutral. There is less at stake for the Americans, which gives them more flexibility to accept Russia’s demands.

And Kaja Kallas acknowledged it:

“What is the picture right now is that the concessions that Americans are putting on Ukraine are quite strong. I do not think there is anything that we can offer to Russia on top of that, what they already sort of get from their understanding with the Americans. Which means: why should they talk to us? Because they get what they want in this relationship.”

So, what is left for the EU?

Despite not being in the negotiation room in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, European representatives were present in the city. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the Ukrainian and American delegations had met with representatives from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

Europe’s participation in the process is indispensable, Zelensky insisted.

But apart from being present and informed, how is the EU contributing to the efforts?

At the moment, efforts are mostly focused on strengthening the Ukrainian position as much as possible, by delivering arms, for instance. The EU also maintains pressure on Russia through sanctions.

More than that is not on the agenda yet, because the 27 EU member states are simply not aligned when it comes to dealing with Vladimir Putin.

[French president] Emmanuel Macron and [Italian PM] Giorgia Meloni have expressed a willingness to re-establish contact with Russia. The Italian Prime Minister explained that the EU could not seriously take part in any negotiations while talking only to one of the two sides.

Macron even said that preparations for resuming dialogue with Russia were underway.

But at the EU table, a few countries, including Germany, Estonia and Lithuania, strongly oppose direct talks with Putin.

For [German chancellor] Friedrich Merz, Russia is not ready to talk. He recently said that his country saw no need to open additional channels of communication.

High representative Kaja Kallas is therefore asking EU member states to first coordinate among themselves and agree on a common position before taking any steps.

The official European line for now is that the Russian position is too far from the EU’s. Europeans should therefore not engage in dialogue until Russia shows readiness for compromise.

In the context of this divide, there is no clear EU strategy for reaching peace in Ukraine.

All in all, it is not so much that the EU is giving up on participating in the negotiations; rather, it has no real options to do so. Apart from Volodymyr Zelensky, no one wants it at the table.