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. […]
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”. Läs artikel