More than 50 European leaders gather in Dublin on Thursday for the European Political Community summit, with Ukraine at the center of the agenda as U.S. envoys prepare to brief President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on two days of Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Abu Dhabi that ended without a breakthrough on the war.
The summit opens at the Convention Centre Dublin and will be the ninth gathering of the European Political Community, a forum created in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It brings together the 27 European Union member states and countries outside the bloc for strategic discussions without negotiating a binding communique. Ireland will host the summit, co-chaired by European Council President Antonio Costa and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, and it will be followed on Friday by an informal meeting of the EU's 27 national leaders.
The official theme is "Europe - strong, secure and connected." Leaders will discuss building a competitive Europe through innovation, connectivity and affordable energy, as well as securing and defending democratic Europe. Ukraine returns to the center of the gathering immediately after the U.S.-mediated talks in the United Arab Emirates, which produced an agreement in principle on a large prisoner-of-war exchange but no announced settlement of the central disputes over territory, security guarantees and Europe's role in a future arrangement, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff plan to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before traveling to Dublin to see Zelenskyy, according to AP. Zelenskyy has argued that Europe must be involved throughout diplomatic efforts concerning the war, while European leaders have maintained that any discussion of the continent's security architecture must follow a ceasefire and that Russia should not be allowed to dictate European security arrangements, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will attend the Dublin meeting and hold bilateral discussions with leaders, including Zelenskyy, NATO said. The alliance said Rutte is scheduled to make doorstep remarks at noon Central European Time on Thursday. Around 50 leaders are expected, and the Irish government has warned that road closures, public-transport diversions and delays are expected in parts of Dublin from November 10 through November 13.
Ukraine's financing needs will form part of the context in Dublin. Germany has pressed fellow EU countries to share responsibility for Ukraine's projected 2027 funding gap, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz writing to Costa that all EU states should contribute to filling a projected 70 billion euro shortfall, with an expected EU contribution of 45 billion euros, Reuters reported on November 10. Officials have not announced a joint declaration or a Ukraine agreement for the EPC summit.
