EU leaders close to agreeing on negotiating team for Ukraine talks

EU leaders are close to reaching an agreement on the negotiating group for talks on Ukraine, which would include representatives from five European countries, as well as the European Commission and the European Council.

As reported by Politico, the proposal is for the E5 countries – Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland – to take part in technical-level negotiations alongside representatives of EU institutions, including the European Commission and the European Council.

According to one of the officials, the countries would be represented by their national security advisers.

Earlier, European Council President António Costa indicated that the EU had not yet decided who will represent the bloc in potential negotiations with Russia.

Media reports suggest that EU countries are divided into three camps over who should represent them in talks with Russia.