European leaders sought to form a united front Monday at emergency talks in Paris, called after a U.S. diplomatic blitz on Ukraine which has thrown a once-solid alliance into turmoil and left the Europeans questioning the reliability of their key transatlantic partner.
Shortly before the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump, but Macron’s office would not disclose details about the 20-minute discussion.
Leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the European Union met at the Elysee Palace for talks on Europe’s security quandary. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was also there.
Since last week, top U.S. officials from the Trump administration, on their first visit to Europe, left the impression that Washington was ready to embrace the Kremlin while it cold-shouldered many of its age-old European allies.
The U.S. to leave Europe out of the negotiating table
Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, underlined Monday that Europe has no place at the negotiating table.
“All their concerns will be known, and addressed as well,” Kellogg told reporters in Brussels, where he briefed the 31 U.S. allies in NATO, along with European Union officials, before heading to Kyiv for talks on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable and feasible to have everybody sitting at the table. We know how that can turn out and that has been our point, is keeping it clean and fast as we can,” he said.
Kellogg’s remarks come after a flurry of speeches by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week questioned both Europe’s security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles.
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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.
The tipping point came when Trump decided to upend years of U.S. policy by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Europeans stand by their support to Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters a possible peace agreement with Russia cannot be forced on Ukraine from outside.
“We welcome the fact that talks are taking place, that peace is developing everywhere. But for 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,” he insisted after he left the Elysee Palace, as the meeting was still ongoing.
“Negotiations are moving fast with Europe,” Zelenskyy said in a virtual news conference Monday in Kyiv, adding recent U.S. moves “accelerated everything,”
Zelenskyy said Macron had agreed to provide him with a briefing on the conclusions from the meeting in Paris.
A strong U.S. component, though, will remain essential for the foreseeable future since it will take many years before European nations can ratchet up defense production and integrate it into an effective force.
That U.S. bond also applies to dealing with war in Ukraine, said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “U.S. support will remain critical and a U.S. security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace, because only the U.S. can deter Putin from attacking again,” Starmer wrote in Monday’s Daily Telegraph.
Source: AP
