I agree, but I am a little biased here as a product owner. Developers like to code. It's what they were hired to do, and it's what generates the most value the fastest. Anything which pulls a developer into meetings is lost productivity. There are occasions for devs to speak with end users; during, for example, refinement and demos. However unless I am vigilant, the developers quickly end up spending most of their time wasted in meetings with four other managers.

You hit the nail on the head: developers aren't well versed in customer and office politics, and most of them don't want to be. I am, as part of my job, and I know who is trying to muscle their pet project into the next sprint. I am the buffer; the diplomat and negotiator; and my team seems very happy with this arrangement.