European Council president António Costa should represent the EU in any future talks to agree a peace deal ending the Ukraine war, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
Leaders of the 27 EU states spent several hours discussing the war in Ukraine during a summit in Brussels on Thursday, where they debated the prospects of Russia sitting down to negotiate a ceasefire, and who would represent European interests in such a scenario.
One EU source briefed on discussions inside the room said several heads of government spoke up to support Costa representing the EU in any ceasefire talks.
However, there was a consensus among leaders that Moscow showed no interest in ending the war, which began when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
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Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister who has chaired the top EU summits as European Council president since late 2024, is viewed as a wily operator who has earned the trust of European leaders during that time.
“Under the treaties, António Costa as president of the [European] Council will be representing, or would represent the union, in any supportive negotiation role,” Martin said on Friday morning, before joining fellow leaders for the second day of the Brussels summit.
The Taoiseach said there was still “some distance to go” before any serious peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place.
“Obviously there was strong support there on the table for Ukraine, and also a desire to see an end to this war, but there is no sense or no sign from Russia that it wants to end the war,” he said.
“In the event of the conversation starting, [Costa] would obviously represent the union, but there’s some distance to go yet before we get there,” Martin said.
A number of names had been floating in the media as possible EU envoys on Ukraine, including Finnish president Alexander Stubb and former German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Costa’s top aide recently spoke on the phone with a counterpart in the Kremlin, a move that has drawn some criticism for thawing an effective diplomatic embargo on direct contacts with Russia.
Martin said the Irish Government did not have a problem with a back channel being tested.
“Opening up channels in my view – given our own experience in conflict resolution – is not something that we would criticise or be negative about,” he told reporters.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy travelled to Brussels to join the EU summit for part of the discussion on the war.
It is understood a recent shift in tone from the Ukrainian wartime leader was part of the reason Costa’s officials sought to establish a point of contact in Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s orbit.
There was no agreement by EU leaders at the summit to give Costa a formal mandate to speak for Europe.
US-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv have been on pause for several months, partly because the Trump administration’s focus has been on the war it started in Iran, and the resulting oil crisis sparked by Iran shutting the Strait of Hormuz.
Senior officials in the European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive arm, expect Washington’s attention may return to Ukraine in the event of a lasting truce in Iran.
“I have the impression the tide is turning. We see that Ukraine is holding the line, even partially regaining territory,” commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.
Separately, the Taoiseach described a decision by Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, to cut all contact with Kaja Kallas, the EU’s representative on foreign affairs, as “unacceptable”.
The Israeli minister said he would freeze out the senior EU official in response to comments she reportedly made comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid-era South Africa.
