PARIS: European leaders insisted Monday they must have a say in international talks to end the war in Ukraine despite the clear message from both Washington and Moscow that there was no role for them as yet in negotiations that could shape the future of the continent.
\nThree hours of emergency talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris left leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO and the European Union without a common view on possible peacekeeping troops after a US diplomatic blitz on Ukraine last week threw a once-solid trans-Atlantic alliance into turmoil.
\nUK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for US backing while reaffirming he\u2019s ready to consider sending British forces on the Ukrainian ground alongside others \u201cif there is a lasting peace agreement.\u201d
\nThere was a rift though with some EU nations, like Poland, which have said they don\u2019t want their military imprint on Ukraine soil. Macron was non-committal.
\nDutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged the Europeans \u201cneed to come to a common conclusion about what we can contribute. And that way we will eventually get a seat at the table,\u201d adding that \u201cjust sitting at the table without contributing is pointless.\u201d
\nStarmer said a trans-Atlantic bond remained essential. \u201cThere must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again,\u201d he said.
\nTop US officials from the Trump administration, on their first visit to Europe last week, left the impression that Washington was ready to embrace the Kremlin while it cold-shouldered many of its age-old European allies.
\nThe US to leave Europe out of negotiations
\nGen. Keith Kellogg, Trump\u2019s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said Monday he didn\u2019t think it was \u201creasonable and feasible to have everybody sitting at the table.\u201d
\n\u201cWe know how that can turn out and that has been our point, is keeping it clean and fast as we can,\u201d he told reporters in Brussels, where he briefed the 31 US allies in NATO, along with EU officials, before heading to Kyiv for talks on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
\nHis remarks were echoed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was equally dismissive about a role for Europe. \u201cI don\u2019t know what they have to do at the negotiations table,\u201d he said as he arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with US officials.
\nLast week, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a flurry of speeches questioned both Europe\u2019s security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles.
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron, who has long championed a stronger European defense, said their stinging rebukes and threats of non-cooperation in the face of military danger felt like a shock to the system.
\nThe tipping point came when Trump decided to upend years of US policy by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
\nShortly before the meeting in Paris Monday, Macron spoke with Trump, but Macron\u2019s office would not disclose details about the 20-minute discussion.
\nEuropeans stand by their support to Ukraine
\nStarmer, who said he will travel to Washington next week to discuss with President Trump \u201cwhat we see as the key elements of a lasting peace,\u201d appears to be charting a \u201cthird way\u201d in Europe\u2019s shifting geopolitical landscape \u2014 aligning strategically with the US administration while maintaining EU ties. Some analysts suggest this positioning could allow him to act as a bridge between Trump and Europe, potentially serving as a key messenger to the White House.
\nGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters a possible peace agreement with Russia cannot be forced on Ukraine. \u201cFor us, it must and is clear: This does not mean that peace can be dictated and that Ukraine must accept what is presented to it,\u201d he insisted.
\nSpanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez said that any peace agreement would need to have the active involvement of the EU and Ukraine, so as to not be a false end to the war \u201cas has happened in the past.\u201d
\nHe went on: \u201cWhat cannot be is that the aggressor is rewarded.\u201d
\nA strong US component, though, will remain essential for the foreseeable future since it will take many years before many European nations can ratchet up defense production and integrate it into an effective force.
\nSending troops after a peace deal?
\nHighlighting the inconsistencies among many nations about potential troop contributions, Scholz said talk of boots on the ground was \u201cpremature.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is highly inappropriate, to put it bluntly, and honestly: we don\u2019t even know what the outcome will be\u201d of any peace negotiation, he added.
\nEuropean nations are bent though on boosting their armed forces where they can after years of US complaints, and most have increased defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product, but the path to reaching 3 percent is unclear.
\n\u201cThe time has come for a much greater ability of Europe to defend itself,\u201d Poland\u2019s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. \u201cThere is unanimity here on the issue of increasing spending on defense. This is an absolute necessity.\u201d Poland spends more than 4 percent of its GDP on defense, more than any other NATO member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS: European leaders insisted Monday they must have a say in international talks to end the war in Ukraine despite the clear message from both Washington and Moscow that there was no role for them as yet in negotiations that could shape the future of the continent. Three hours of emergency talks at the Elysee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-462278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n