French president Emmanuel Macron invited European leaders including the UK’s Keir Starmer, Poland’s Donald Tusk, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni to the French capital on Monday for urgent talks on Ukraine and the continent’s wider security, according to people familiar with the plans.
European leaders have desperately been trying to persuade Donald Trump not to rush into peace negotiations with Russia. Top diplomats on the continent have described the US president’s willingness to pull support for Ukraine and Europe as “existential” for the continent.
Denmark has also been invited to the emergency summit, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The people said the plans are still preliminary and are subject to change.
Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in a post on X that prime minister Donald Tusk would attend the meeting, and he urged leaders to show strength and unity.
An official from Macron’s office said there were ongoing discussions over a potential informal meeting of European leaders, without providing further details. A spokesperson from the European Commission said talks are ongoing but that nothing has been set yet.
[ Taoiseach rejects Zelenskiy call for ‘armed forces of Europe’Opens in new window ]
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa were also invited, the people said.
The meeting is expected to discuss US efforts to exclude European leaders from the peace talks, the position Europe should adopt on Ukraine’s future membership of Nato and how Ukraine can be offered security guarantees, either through Nato or some European force.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, will separately gather the bloc’s foreign ministers in Munich to take stock of the events of the last few days, her spokesman posted on social media, adding that “we are in a decisive moment for Ukraine’s and Europe’s future”.
[ Zelenskiy rejects proposal to give US access to Ukraine’s mineralsOpens in new window ]
Kallas met earlier Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
[ Europe will not be part of Ukraine-Russia peace talks, Trump envoy saysOpens in new window ]
When asked if Europe should be at the negotiating table with the US, Russia and Ukraine, Kellogg said earlier on Saturday that “in the school of realism, I think that’s not going to happen”. He added that he wanted to get a clear sense of Europe’s position so that it was well-stated in negotiations. “That may grate a little bit, but I’m telling you something that’s really quite honest,” he said.
Senior officials from the US and Russia are meeting next week in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a potential leaders’ summit as soon at the end of the month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Most Europeans have so far not been informed and while officials from Ukraine are expected, they also don’t appear to be fully in the loop on the preparations. – Bloomberg
