‘Europe belongs at this table,’ Germany tells US before Ukraine talks

As US-mediated peace discussions secure under way in Abu Dhabi, european foreign ministers have informed United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Europe must have a say in any agreement to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

Key points

• It was Rubio's first session with allies since last week's midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffered stunning losses.
• Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, is due to join a session on Ukraine in Paris on Tuesday.
• They created the appeal on Monday in Paris, at a gathering of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven.
• It ends on Tuesday, overlaps with the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea and Brazil are additionally attending.

They created the appeal on Monday in Paris, at a gathering of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven. It includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

It was Rubio's first session with allies since last week's midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffered stunning losses. The session provided Washington's allies a chance to air their reservations with Rubio directly against the backdrop of concern regarding Trump's growing rhetoric of a new security architecture for Europe.

"It is certainly neither necessary, nor right, nor appropriate to make a fundamental change" to Europe's security architecture, remarked German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul after negotiations with Rubio.

"Europe belongs at this table. There can be no solution without Europe – only with Europe, " he continued.

For context, the two-day Paris session. It ends on Tuesday, overlaps with the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wadephul remarked the Abu Dhabi negotiations must show whether Russia is "genuinely prepared to negotiate", urging Moscow to "give up maximalist demands" and warning against any "negotiation show" in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

With Russian attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure continuing, he remarked, "we see no substantial contribution whatsoever toward negotiations gaining any serious momentum" from Moscow.

"No one has the right to decide our fate behind our backs, " Sybiha remarked before departing for the gathering.

As well as its increasingly unilateral course, the Paris session comes as G7 members have grown increasingly uneasy with the direction of US policy, including Washington's scaling back of backing for Ukraine and of sanctions on Russia.

Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea and Brazil are additionally attending. Iran is projected to feature prominently in the discussions on Tuesday.

Washington's G7 allies have repeatedly voiced scepticism regarding the US and Israeli war on Iran and fear that further US military action could deepen the crisis rather than resolve it.

Al Jazeera's Rebecca Collard, reporting from Paris, remarked the first day of negotiations had wrapped up with little clarity on US policy after the midterm elections.

"The second day of talks will include a session on instability in the Middle East, " she remarked.

"But there is something bigger up for discussion, too: The future of the multilateralism that has dominated relations among these countries for decades."

For now, 'Europe belongs at this table, ' Germany tells US before Ukraine talks remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.