France is discussing with its allies holding an informal summit of European leaders to discuss Ukraine, a French presidency official said on Saturday evening. Four European diplomats said the meeting was likely to go ahead on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said at the Munich Security Conference earlier on Saturday that Europe would not have a seat at the table for Ukraine
peace talks.
European fears mount at Munich conference as US signals shift on Ukraine
Trump also shocked European allies this week by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kyiv beforehand and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.
Europe's focus is now shifting to what concrete role it can play in providing security guarantees for Kyiv, as well as how to strengthen Europe’s collective security.
Speaking on a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that "President Trump has a method of operating, which the Russians call reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position, legitimate tactics. And we need to respond."
Four diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said discussions were continuing about who should be invited to any summit. Two of them said non-EU member Britain had been invited.
The Dutch news agency reported that Prime Minister Dick Schoof would go to Paris on Monday for the summit.
It was unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be invited.
Zelensky called on Saturday for the creation of a European army, saying the continent could no longer be sure of protection from the United States.
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"There's no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine's future or European security structure, without Europeans," Finland's President Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to attend the summit in Paris, and said on Saturday evening that it was a "once-in-a-generation moment for our national security".
He also said however that his country would work to ensure the US and Europe remained together and should not allow divisions to distract them from "external enemies", the BBC reported, adding the two could not "allow any divisions in the alliance to distract" from "external enemies".
"It's clear Europe must take on a greater role in NATO as we work with the US to secure Ukraine's future and face down the threat we face from Russia," according to Starmer.
(Reuters)
