Taoiseach says Ukraine peace talks will not work without Europe

By Grainne Ni Aodha, PA

Taoiseach has said that Ukraine peace talks “will not work” without Europe’s involvement and that Ukraine has to be “at the heart” of any arrangement.

Micheál Martin said European countries were “worried” about the “direction of travel” as US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials were not invited to the Riyadh meeting.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country will not accept any deal negotiated without them.

Mr Martin and Tánaiaste Simon Harris also said on Tuesday that it was “far too early” to discuss whether Irish peacekeeping troops could be deployed to Ukraine.

Speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Mr Martin said: “In my view, Europe will have to be at the talks, because a peace agreement will not work without European participation to some degree and at some stage, because, of course, this goes to the heart of European security and Ukraine security.

“The fundamental point in any peace deal is that it has to be sustainable and has to be durable. For that to happen, there has to be very significant security guarantees to Ukraine and assurance that this deal will not be just a temporary one, and that Russia would continue its aggression.

“So I think the questions that are arising from all of this are quite fundamental to European countries and to the security of Europe more broadly.

“So there’s some distance to go yet before the shape of any peace deal emerges and yes, European states are worried in of the direction of travel.

“That said, everybody wants this war to end. It is a horrible war. Hundreds of thousands of young people have lost their lives as a result of this war, and if we can get a sustainable peace, that would be good for everybody, but Ukraine has to be at the heart of it. There cannot really be a peace deal without Ukraine.”

The Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris said that there cannot “be anything about Europe and European security without Europe in the room”.

“Everybody wants to see peace. Everybody wants to see an end to the war, but how that peace is brought about matters – respecting people’s territorial integrity, the sovereignty of a country, and indeed, the UN Charter, is crucially important,” Mr Harris said.

“What we should be very conscious of is, while lots of people are talking about wanting to bring peace to Ukraine, we’re still seeing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin engage in acts of aggression and acts of sabotage on a daily basis on Ukraine, Ukrainian people and Ukrainian infrastructure.”

In relation to Irish peacekeeping deployments to Ukraine, he said: “We’re simply not at that point yet.”

Mr Harris was due to attend an online meeting of the European People’s Party, his Fine Gael party’s political grouping in the EU, on Tuesday where a readout on Ukraine would be given by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

He said that he was “absolutely determined” to get 50 million euro that Ireland has committed to Ukraine for non-lethal military equipment amid Hungary blocking funding mechanisms.

“That can’t be tolerated any longer,” Mr Harris said.