EU deal on Ukraine talks overshadows AI-focused summit in Dublin

They came to discuss AI, but EU leaders spent most of their time during a summit in Dublin on Friday grappling with questions about Ukraine — namely who should represent them in future peace talks. Despite plenty of disagreement about whether it should be a single person (and if so, who) or a collection of them, they managed to strike a deal: Future talks would involve national security officials from Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and Poland — the so-called E5 powers — plus representatives from the European Commission and European Council.

A classic European compromise. “It is essential to have a team and to speak with one voice,” European Council President António Costa said after the summit, noting that Donald Trump had also tasked two envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with conducting negotiations.

Ireland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency and hosted the informal gathering, had billed the meeting as a rare chance for a high-level discussion on how to develop artificial intelligence in accordance with European values.