Emmanuel Macron has warned against a peace deal over the Ukraine war that would amount to “capitulation” as Donald Trump suggested Russia might not make any concessions in negotiations.
The French president said only the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, could negotiate on behalf of his country with Russia to end the war, warning in an interview with the Financial Times that a “peace that is a capitulation” would be “bad news for everyone”, including the US.
The comments come amid fears in Europe that Trump and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, are trying to negotiate the future of the continent’s security over the heads of European leaders themselves, with the US president already making a raft of concessions.
“The only question at this stage is whether President Putin is genuinely, sustainably and credibly willing to agree to a ceasefire on this basis. After that, it’s up to the Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia,” Macron told the FT.
Trump said on Thursday that US and Russian officials would meet on Friday in Munich, where a major security conference is being held, and that Ukraine was also invited.
However, Zelenskyy’s communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, said: “Talks with Russians in Munich are not expected.” Ukraine believed the US, Europe and Ukraine needed a common position before holding talks with Moscow, he said.
During a joint press conference with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, at the White House on Thursday evening, the US president was asked what, if anything, he expected Russia to give up.
“Russia has gotten themselves into something that I think they wish they didn’t,” Trump replied. “If I were president, it would not have happened, absolutely would not have happened. And it didn’t happen for four years.”
He added: “Now Russia has taken over a pretty big chunk of territory and they also have said from day one, long before President Putin, they’ve said they cannot have Ukraine be in Nato. They said that very strongly. I actually think that was the thing that caused the start of the war, and [Joe] Biden said it and Zelenskyy said it.”
It was “too early” to say what would happen in the talks, Trump insisted. “Maybe Russia will give up a lot. Maybe they won’t. And it’s all dependent on what is going to happen. The negotiation really hasn’t started.”
Zelenskyy is expected to meet the US vice-president, JD Vance, at a security conference in Germany on Friday. Trump on Thursday announced plans to begin negotiations with Russia, saying he thought Putin “wants peace” in Ukraine and “would tell me if he didn’t”.
Macron told the FT it would be up to Ukraine to discuss issues of territory and sovereignty but added that Europe had a role to play in regional security.
“[It] is up to the international community, with a specific role for the Europeans, to discuss security guarantees and, more broadly, the security framework for the entire region,” he said. “That is where we have a role to play.”
Ukrainians voiced unease after it emerged Trump has been privately speaking to Putin to negotiate a ceasefire, with some pondering whether they have a future in their own country.
That unease has been shared by some Republicans in the US Senate. “Ukraine ought to be the one to negotiate its own peace deal,” said John Cornyn, a foreign relations committee member, according to the Hill. “I don’t think it should be imposed upon it by any other country, including ours. I’m hopeful.”
Mike Rounds was quoted as saying: “There are concerns I think all of us have that Russia be recognised for the aggressor that they are.” Susan Collins said: “I appreciate that the president is trying to achieve peace, but we have to make sure that Ukraine does not get the short end of a deal.”
On Thursday evening, Trump also used the press conference with Modi to again accuse Europe of falling short in its support for Ukraine. Trump said: “We had some talks and we told the European Union, we told the Nato people – largely they overlap – you have to pay more money because it’s unfair what we’re doing.
“We’re doing a tremendous amount more, we’re probably $200bn more going into Ukraine, using for Ukraine to fight, and Europe has not really carried its weight in terms of the money. It’s not equitable and we want to see a counterbalance. We want to have them put up more money. They have to do that.”
Last month the EU said that since the start of the war it had made available close to $145bn in financial, military, humanitarian and refugee assistance to Ukraine.
