Top European leaders are set to hold an emergency summit Monday amid the emerging reality that they’re being frozen out of the U.S.-led peace negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump administration officials are reportedly set to meet with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia in the coming days as President Trump moves quickly to bring an end to the conflict. Leaders from the European Union and powerful European nations such as Britain, France and Germany appear to have no direct role in those peace negotiations.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to downplay any tension with the Trump administration but left no doubt that Europe understands it is at an inflection point.
“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,” he said Sunday, according to British media. “It’s clear Europe must take on 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.”
Officials from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Denmark and other nations appear to be invited to the summit, which reportedly will be held in Paris on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly organizing the summit.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski indicated that leaders across the continent must adapt quickly to the fact that Mr. Trump and his top aides are talking directly with the Kremlin.
“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,” Mr. Sikorski said, according to the BBC.
The Trump administration all but confirmed over the weekend that Europe will not be a part of negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Retired U.S. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, said “I think that’s not going to happen” when pressed whether Europeans would be part of the talks.
“You can have the Ukrainians, the Russians, and clearly the Americans at the table talking,” he said during an event at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend.
At the Munich gathering over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a new European military force to fill the gap if the U.S. shrinks its military footprint on the continent or otherwise reduces its security commitments to NATO.
“I really believe that time has come,” he said. “The armed forces of Europe must be created.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.