European leaders gathered in Dublin behind a proposed European security declaration that says Ukraine’s path to peace must be decided with Ukraine and that matters affecting Europe’s security must be decided with Europeans, a direct response to concerns that U.S.-Russian diplomacy could reshape the continent’s security order without European participation.
The draft declaration, initiated by France’s foreign minister and reviewed by Reuters, was discussed at the European Political Community summit on Nov. 12. About 40 countries were expected to support its principles, although the final number of signatories had not been confirmed when Reuters reported on the text.
The document is not a peace treaty, a security guarantee or an agreement with Russia. It is a political statement of principles. But it comes at a sensitive moment: U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow after U.S.-mediated discussions involving Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi.
Witkoff said after the Moscow meeting that European representatives would join the next round of talks. Russian officials did not immediately confirm the arrangement, and the core disputes over territory, postwar security arrangements and the role of outside forces in Ukraine remain unresolved.
A declaration framed around participation
The Dublin draft sets out a simple premise: peace in Ukraine cannot be settled without Ukraine, and European security cannot be negotiated without European states. It also reaffirms the sovereign equality of states, the inviolability of borders, the right of countries to choose their security arrangements, human rights, democracy and the United Nations Charter.
Those principles address several issues at the center of the Ukraine war. Russia has repeatedly demanded restrictions on Ukraine’s ties with NATO and on alliance activity in Eastern Europe. Ukraine and its European partners have rejected any settlement that would recognize Russian control of occupied territory or permanently close Kyiv’s path to Euro-Atlantic institutions.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on arriving in Dublin that the declaration was important at a time when Europe risked being excluded from discussions about its own security and stability. The proposed text also supports later discussions on risk-management and risk-reduction mechanisms once conditions for peace have been restored.
The formulation does not spell out military commitments. It does not define a future force for Ukraine, establish a ceasefire line or specify the status of territories occupied by Russia. Its significance lies in putting a common European position into writing while parallel talks continue between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv.
Peace diplomacy moves from Abu Dhabi to Dublin
The Dublin summit followed two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, the first direct negotiations involving Russian and Ukrainian officials in nine months. Associated Press reported that the talks produced a prisoner exchange but no ceasefire, while major disagreements remained over territory and the conditions for a settlement.
Reuters reported that Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine. Kyiv has rejected Russian demands to cede the remaining parts of the Donbas that Moscow does not occupy. Moscow, for its part, has maintained that a settlement must address what it calls its security concerns, including NATO’s military posture.
Witkoff’s statement that Europeans could take part in the next meeting offered a possible opening after weeks in which European governments argued that they could not be excluded from negotiations about the continent’s postwar security architecture. But the Kremlin’s public position has been more guarded. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Europe’s current approach would prolong the conflict, according to Reuters.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy met European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Dublin on Nov. 12. The European Council said the leaders issued a joint statement after their meeting, and the gathering occurred as Europe’s leaders sought a unified response to the new diplomacy.
The FINANCIAL has previously reported on the Abu Dhabi discussions and Europe’s insistence that security arrangements for Ukraine require European involvement. The Dublin draft gives that position a broader political form, but it does not settle the question of which countries would participate in a formal negotiating structure or what authority they would have.
Existing commitments and limits
European governments have made commitments to Ukraine outside the Dublin declaration. The European Union’s Council extended the mandate of its military-assistance mission for Ukraine through Nov. 15, 2028, with a budget of nearly €300 million for the extension. The mission trains Ukrainian personnel and is separate from any potential postwar security force.
The United Kingdom, France and Ukraine signed a declaration of intent in January relating to the possible deployment of multinational forces to support Ukraine’s defense, reconstruction and strategic sustainability after a ceasefire. The document is a framework of intent, not an announcement that foreign troops will be deployed now.
The British government says it has also announced £107 million in energy support for Ukraine since September 2025 for repairs, replacement power generation and protective measures. Ukraine’s energy system has remained a target of Russian missile and drone attacks through multiple winters of the war.
The European Union has separately agreed to provide a €90 billion loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, backed by EU borrowing and budget headroom, according to the Council’s Ukraine timeline. That assistance concerns Ukraine’s financial resilience; it is not part of the Dublin political declaration.
These measures show the range of existing European support, from training and energy assistance to financing. They do not, however, answer the central issue raised by the draft declaration: whether Moscow, Washington, Kyiv and European capitals can agree on a negotiating format that gives Europe a role in decisions that affect its security.
The European Political Community’s role
The European Political Community was created in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It brings together EU member states and a wider group of European countries for political and strategic discussions. The Dublin meeting was the ninth summit and brought together more than 40 leaders, including Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The forum does not make binding EU law or replace NATO. Its value is that it brings governments from inside and outside the European Union into the same political setting, including countries with different relationships to NATO and to the EU.
AP reported that the summit was dominated by Ukraine and wider European security. The Irish government described it as the largest gathering of international leaders ever held in Ireland. Its agenda also included economic security, hybrid threats and connectivity.
For Ukraine, the diplomacy has immediate military consequences. Zelenskyy said new restrictions affecting Starshield, SpaceX’s military satellite communications service, had disrupted operations across the front line, Reuters reported. SpaceX declined to comment. The disruption illustrated that negotiations about a future settlement are taking place while the war continues.
Russia has continued attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and cities, while Ukraine has carried out strikes in Russia. In Dublin, the policy debate concerned the terms of a durable peace, but there was no announced ceasefire and no agreement on territorial issues.
What happens next
The proposed European security declaration leaves several questions open. Reuters reported that the final number of signatories was still being settled. The text does not identify a timetable for peace talks, a postwar security-guarantee mechanism or a diplomatic body that would represent European states in future negotiations.
The next formal European event is an informal meeting of EU heads of state and government in Dublin on Nov. 13. The European Council says leaders will discuss artificial intelligence, Ukraine, the peace talks and Europe’s role in diplomatic efforts, including the need for a coherent EU position.
For now, the concrete outcome of the Dublin initiative is a draft statement intended to put European and Ukrainian participation at the center of future security discussions. Whether that principle becomes part of a negotiating process depends on the next round of talks, for which European participation has been announced by the U.S. envoy but not yet confirmed in a joint statement by all parties.