Planned U.S.-Russia Talks Over Ukraine Throw Europe Into Crisis
France’s Macron convenes emergency meeting of military powers as Trump prepares to negotiate Ukraine’s future without them
“… President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting of European leaders inside the Élysée Palace on Monday, moments after he held a 20-minute call with President Trump on Monday.
The flurry of diplomacy aimed to show that Europe still has a role to play in resolving the Ukraine war—even as senior U.S. officials traveled to Saudi Arabia this week for direct talks with Russia.
The idea that the fate of Europe might be decided without direct European participation has stung the continent’s capitals. It
has also raised pressure on Macron, British Prime Minister
Keir Starmer and other leaders to define how they plan to contribute to any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
In recent days, the Trump administration has asked European governments to fill out a questionnaire, clarifying whether they are willing to send troops into Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force and what other capabilities they can provide as part of a security guarantee for Ukraine. The leaders must also discuss how to increase European military spending and fund longer-term assistance for Kyiv.
For months European countries have dithered. Only a handful of European countries—Britain, France and Sweden—have so far signaled they are willing to send troops into Ukraine as part of a peace deal. When a core group of leaders gathered in Brussels in December, they shied away from any serious discussion of what security guarantees Europe could offer, deciding it was best to wait for Trump to take office and lay out his plans. …”
