The French president, Emmanuel Macron, was on Saturday night seeking to convene an emergency meeting of European leaders, including the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, as concerns grew over Donald Trump’s attempts to seize control of the Ukraine peace process.
Speaking at the Munich security conference, Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said he was “very glad that President Macron has called our leaders to Paris” to discuss “in a very serious fashion” the challenges posed by Trump.
“President Trump has a method of operating which the Russians call razvedka boyem – reconnaissance through battle: you push and you see what happens, and then you change your position ... and we need to respond,” the Polish minister said.
The meeting, likely to be held on Monday, 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.
Downing Street confirmed on Saturday it had heard about the proposed meeting and officials made clear that Starmer would attend and take messages from the meeting to Washington this week, when he will meet President Trump. UK sources said they believed those invited to Paris by Macron would be the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the leaders of Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland.
Starmer said: “This is a once in a generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia. It’s clear Europe must take a greater role in Nato as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia. The UK will work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face.”
Macron’s speed in trying to unite European leaders behind a joint response shows the extent of anxiety in Europe about US efforts both to control the process and exclude European governments from any detailed negotiations between the US and Russia.
Macron’s speed in trying to unite European leaders behind a joint response shows the extent of anxiety in Europe about US efforts both to control the process and exclude European governments from any detailed negotiations between the US and Russia.
The prospect of Starmer’s involvement also highlights how the UK prime minister is becoming drawn into a European response, despite the UK having left the EU. With European leaders expected to convene in Paris, it is anticipated that Russian and US officials will meet in Saudi Arabia this week to map out what they intend to be the peace process.
The Europeans’ anxieties intensified on Saturday when Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said it was not realistic for Europe’s leaders to be involved. “It may be like chalk on the blackboard, it may grate a little bit, but I am telling you something that is really quite honest,” said Kellogg at the Munich conference.
“And to my European friends, I would say: ‘Get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up [defence] spending.’”
Kellogg said he was working on “Trump time”, and an agreement was expected in weeks and months.
The US is also reported to have sent a letter to European states, asking what troops they are willing to supply to a peacekeeping force.
One European diplomat said that “it appears Europe is going to be asked to police a deal that it had no direct hand in negotiating. In the meantime, Donald Trump is seeking to take 50% control of Ukraine’s rare minerals”.
Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, said the world was experiencing a “moment of truth” as possible negotiations to end the war in Ukraine approached. “Everyone in the world has to decide whether they are on the side of the free world or on the side of those who are fighting against the free world.”.
In an assertion of Europe’s right to be present at the talks, she added that there can be “no long-term peace if there is no European peace”.
European sources said the serious concern was that Trump may negotiate the terms of the ceasefire that was intended to be a long-term deal, but that he would quickly wash US hands of any role in Ukraine’s future security.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it was vital to guard against the possibility of future Russian breaches of any agreement. He said: “We need a guarantee that, if the agreement is violated, we can act, and this is a sufficient threat for the Russian Federation not to violate this guarantee.”
He also urged the US not to disengage from Ukraine, saying the best security guarantee for the country against future Russian aggression was binding US industry, business and defence capability into its future. “That is what will make Putin sit up and pay attention, and that is what’s attractive to a US president who knows how to get a good deal.”
Kellogg said one reason previous peace talks had failed was because too many countries were involved. “We are not going to get down that path,” he said on the margins of the Munich security conference.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had earlier used his speech to the conference to warn that Europe was likely to be excluded from the negotiations. He urged Europe to step up and form a European army in which Ukraine would play a central role.
Zelenskyy told Europe to avoid being abandoned at the negotiation table by Trump. “Let’s be honest – now we can’t rule out that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it. Many leaders have talked about a Europe that needs its own military – an army of Europe. I believe the time has come. The armed forces of Europe must be created.
“A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin. Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at that table. That says a lot. The old days are over – when America supported Europe just because it always had.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement. And the same rule should apply to all of Europe. No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.”
With many European nations facing increasingly Eurosceptic electorates, his ideas about integration are unlikely to take off, but his remarks may galvanise the continent into more detailed discussions about what military role it can play in Ukraine, including by putting troops on the ground to protect a ceasefire.
European leaders went into Saturday’s session of the Munich conference already reeling from the confrontational speech on Friday by the US vice-president, JD Vance, in which he scolded them for ignoring popular concerns over immigration and accused them of suppressing free speech.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, characterised Vance as “trying to pick a fight” with Europe, home to some of the US’s closest allies.
The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, responded on social media, saying: “Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future. Not necessarily in line with our own interest … This plan must be prepared now. There’s no time to lose.”
