The European leaders scramble ahead of Trump’s Ukraine summit with Putin: Why do U.S. officials think that the Trump administration has declared an ideological war on Europe?
European leaders called for an emergency meeting in Paris after being cut out of the peace negotiations with the US and Russia.
The divide between the US and Europe on the Ukraine war was a topic of discussion at the security conference this weekend, says Tenenbaum, head of the Security Studies Center.
He says that their worst nightmare has come true. “They see that the Trump administration is going to bypass them and try to strong-arm Ukraine in negotiating a deal with Russia to end the war.”
European leaders were hopeful that they could work with the US under the new administration, says Tenenbaum. But comments last week in Europe by several U.S. officials — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Brussels, Vice President JD Vance and special Russia-Ukraine envoy General Keith Kellogg in Munich, and by President Trump himself after an hour-and-a-half call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, have poured cold water on any such hopes.
German Christian Democrat Norbert Röttgen, a longtime advocate for transatlantic alliances, said the Trump administration had in effect declared an ideological war on Europe. He said in a French newspaper that they want to kill Europe.
Source: European leaders scramble ahead of Trump’s Ukraine summit with Putin
Why the U.S. and Russia are out of the room in negotiating with Ukraine: A quotation from Stubb, Zelensky and Lavrov
Alexander Stubb summed the situation up by quoting a famous phrase from Russia’s leader. “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky pleaded in Munich for Europe to join Ukraine in building a European fighting force “so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans, and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” he said to resounding applause.
“Zelensky is stating that if we don’t fight, the Russians and Americans will draw the lines and we will be out the door,” said Tenenbaum.
The leaders of Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands andDenmark will be in attendance of Monday’s meeting hosted by the French President. As well as European Commission head Ursula Von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Starmer wrote that he wants to send troops to guarantee a peace deal.
If Europeans are kept out of the room they will make the US and Russia realize the process may derail, which is why they have to fight for a place at the negotiating table.
Senior U.S. and Russian delegations gathered for talks in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Tuesday, as the two sides began an initial round of high-stakes negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, speaking on the eve of the Saudi meeting, Lavrov reminded that Trump and Putin in their phone call had agreed to end this “not normal period,” when Moscow and Washington refused to talk to one another.
The team includes a national security adviser and a White House special envoy. Witkoff met with Russian officials last week to negotiate a prisoner swap that freed American teacher Marc Fogel.
“Both sides agreed the interest of both Washington and Moscow was best served by better relations,” he said.
The sudden U.S.-Russian detente has stunned U.S. allies in Europe and Ukraine — with both expressing fear of being sidelined in talks that determine their collective futures.
Neither were invited to the Saudi talks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to recognize any agreements made in their absence.
Trump and Putin: The U.S. president’s message on Russian Hostage Diplomacy in the era of Russian Encounters with Russia
The Kremlin confirmed Monday that it approved the release of a US man caught with a small amount of cannabis in his luggage at a Moscow airport.
During the Biden years, several Americans received lengthy prison sentences for the same charges, such as basketball star and teacher Fogel. In a pattern of Russian Hostage Diplomacy, they were among several Americans jailed by Russia on dubious charges.
“They say we ought to give territorial concessions, but what’s the use?” asked Lavrov. Alluding to alleged atrocities done by Ukrainian troops, “So ethnic Russians who live there can be destroyed?”
President Trump has publicly said any peace rested on Ukraine ending its NATO ambitions and relinquishing territory seized by Moscow — in essence ceding to two key Russian demands.
Trump’s America First agenda will make the U.S president not interested in the specific terms of a settlement, according to a former Kremlin adviser.
The only thing Trump is concerned about is his image, said Markov, who added that Trump wants to end the war. He has an image of being strong. He shouldn’t look like a loser.”
Trump has been invited to visit Moscow by Putin. In May, the anniversary of Russia’s victory in World War II, Trump and Putin may meet up in Red Square.