European leaders jolted into action on fears that Trump has abandoned age-old allies
CBC
European leaders insisted on 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 Élysée 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 U.S. diplomatic blitz on Ukraine last week threw a once-solid trans-Atlantic alliance into turmoil.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for U.S. backing while reaffirming he's ready to consider sending British forces on the Ukrainian ground alongside others "if there is a lasting peace agreement."
There was a rift though with some EU nations, such as Poland, which have said they don't want their military imprint on Ukraine soil. Macron was non-committal.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged the Europeans "need to come to a common conclusion about what we can contribute. And that way we will eventually get a seat at the table," adding that "just sitting at the table without contributing is pointless."
Starmer said a trans-Atlantic bond remained essential. "There must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again," he said.
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.
Gen. Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, underlined on Monday that it is the position of the United States 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 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, along with EU 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.
His remarks were echoed by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was equally dismissive about a role for Europe. "I don't know what they have to do at the negotiations table," he said as he arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with U.S. officials.
Kellogg's comments came after a flurry of speeches by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last week that questioned both Europe's security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has long championed a stronger European defence, said their stinging rebukes and threats of non-co-operation 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.
