At the European Political Community summit in Dublin, European heads of state and government largely rejected Russia's demand for a new European security order. Host Micheál Martin was particularly in the spotlight, as was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was making his third visit to Ireland in twelve months. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled from Abu Dhabi via the Kremlin to Dublin to convey Vladimir Putin's position on European participation in the talks. After their meeting with Zelensky, it was said that Europe would be invited to the next round of talks in Abu Dhabi.

Putin blamed Europe for the ongoing war and rejected a post-war European military presence in Ukraine as "foreign" troops. Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky called for a new European security system as a "new Yalta and Potsdam". Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called this a trap, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected the attempt to renegotiate the end of the Cold War. French President Emmanuel Macron gathered the signatures of 41 European heads of state and government on principles for future security talks.

Council President António Costa stressed that Ukraine is a sovereign state that must be free to decide its own alliances. The Irish Taoiseach said Ireland was open to a monitoring or peacekeeping role, but not to a deterrence force.

Key points:

• Events in Moscow gave the European Political Community summit in Dublin a particular edge and put Micheál Martin's role as host in a brighter spotlight than expected.
• In his third visit to Ireland in twelve months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to keep a grip on the Trump administration's latest peace initiative, including two days of talks in Abu Dhabi at which a European delegation turned up but was bypassed by Russia.
• He also announced that Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system had once again been mysteriously throttled, hampering Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian missile and drone attacks.

Source: RTÉ News (English)