Italian PM slams EU’s fragmented approach to Ukraine peace talks

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised the EU's uncoordinated approach to peace negotiations with Russia in a letter sent on Thursday to European Council President Antonio Costa. Seen by Euronews, Meloni's letter condemns the fact that European leaders have recently launched several different initiatives without a shared direction or a clear mandate. Her criticism comes as officials from France, Germany and the UK, the so-called E3, meet representatives from the US and Ukraine in Brussels to discuss how to end the war. In her letter, Maloney said proceeding in disarray with initiatives that chase and overlap one another won't be helpful, while also calling out the proliferation of negotiating groups such as the E3, the Coalition of the Willing, and the Berlin Format. Composed of Germany, France, Poland and representatives of NATO, the G7 and the EU, Maloney asked for the issue to be discussed at the informal European Council in Dublin next week to decide how the EU should be represented in the peace talks. Meanwhile, talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators mediated by US officials would take place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.