Leaders of several European defense powers gathered in Paris, France, 17 emergency to discuss the United States, the situation in Ukraine’s response strategy. French President Maqueron, German Chancellor Scholtz, British Prime Minister Stamer and other leaders of the European Union attended. Many media mentioned that the meeting was hastily organized, 18 U. S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia before the meeting will be involved in how to end the Russo-ukrainian conflict. The BBC said European leaders were shocked and deeply upset that the EU and Ukraine had not been invited to the us-russia-saudi Arabia talks. European leaders are firmly opposed to the prospect of Europe being“Kicked out” of cease-fire talks over Ukraine. British Prime Minister Stamer said on the 16th, if necessary, he is ready and willing to deploy British troops to Ukraine. The Guardian commented that the summit of European leaders and the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia held almost at the same time, the United States and Europe differences exposed. In response to European complaints, Rubio, the US Secretary of State, reassured that the saudi-russian talks were only preliminary and that“Real negotiations” would involve the Europeans and the Ukrainians, but“We are not there yet”.
Britain for the first time
French“Le Monde” said that the Munich security conference ended 16, hundreds of European diplomatic and military elite left Munich, the general feeling that they have experienced 3 days“World-shaking” conference. Stubb, the Finnish president, summed up the feeling with a quote from Vladimir Lenin: “History is like that, sometimes decades go by and sometimes weeks seem like decades.”
In an interview with the German media on the 16th, Heussgen, chairman of the current council, said that in a sense, the council has become a“Nightmare” for Europe, “It was also a very enlightening meeting.”. He said Europe must show a very strong hand and come up with a European security plan for Ukraine, rather than just trying to get to the negotiating table.
French President Maqueron welcomed British prime minister Stamer to Élysée Palace on Sunday. European leaders held an informal summit in Paris the same day to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security issues. (visual China)
Against this backdrop, France decided to hold an emergency high-level meeting in Paris on the 17th, inviting“Able and willing” European leaders to participate. “Capable and willing” means taking a position firmly in support of European defence, as well as being able to provide military and security resources. This initiative received a positive response at the Mu’an Conference. Unlike previous EU meetings, the format is more flexible, designed to bypass obstacles and include the UK in the discussions.
According to reports, in addition to the leaders of France, Germany and Britain, also attending the meeting on the 17th were Italian Prime Minister Merloni, Polish Prime Minister Tusk, Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez, Dutch Prime Minister Shoff, and Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen. Jean-claude Costar, president of the European Council, Jean-claude von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Lütter, secretary-general of NATO, will also travel to the city.
According to an adviser to Maqueron, the meeting will focus on specific security guarantees that Europe can provide, according to Le Monde. Barrow, the French Foreign Minister, said discussions were under way about sending troops to the country, which could include French, British and Polish forces, which have the most powerful forces in Europe. NATO Secretary General Lütter expressed support for this, he encouraged Europeans: “Don’t just complain, but come up with concrete proposals and workable security guarantees to really take their place in the global security discussion.”
Writing in the The Daily Telegraph just hours before the Paris Summit, Stamer, the British prime minister, said his country was willing to take responsibility for security and send troops if necessary. It is the first time a British leader has made clear he is considering deploying troops to Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Christersson said Thursday that Swedish troops could be part of a Ukrainian peacekeeping force.
According to the BBC, Maqueron has long advocated reducing European dependence on the outside world for security, supply chains and technology. He made headlines a year ago when he first floated the idea of stationing troops in Ukraine. Maqueron’s idea was rejected by other NATO members, according to the New York Times. But in recent months there has been growing support for the idea.
Not all EU countries support sending troops to Ukraine. German government spokesman said 17, now to discuss sending troops to Ukraine is“Too early.”. German government sources said that without the participation of the United States, the German opposition troops Ukraine. Polish prime minister Tusk said his country was prepared to continue its logistical, financial, humanitarian and military support, but had no plans to deploy Polish troops on Ukrainian territory.
Zelenskiy: we don’t know anything
The Paris Summit was also criticised by some European countries. “Le Monde” pointed out that the conference invitation list is mainly concentrated in western Europe and some Central European countries, causing dissatisfaction in some countries. It has also exposed divisions in Europe on security issues, with Western Europe taking the lead in decision-making and Eastern Europe bearing the risks, particularly over Ukraine. “The organisers of the Paris Summit have shown the world that not all countries are treated equally, even within the EU,” President of Slovenia Moussard said yesterday
The emergency meeting also came under fire from the Hungarian government. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, seen as a close ally of American President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin, whose government openly criticized the summit, AFP said, it said it was made up of a group of“Frustrated” European leaders intent on“Stopping the peace”. “Those who have been adding fuel to the fire for the past three years have gathered again today in Paris,” said Sialdo, the Hungarian foreign minister, who also condemned the leaders’ strategy as“Wrong because they continue to escalate the situation”.
On Friday, Secretary of State Rubio arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with President Waltz, his national security adviser, and WHITKOFF, his special envoy for the Middle East. The U. S. State Department confirmed that the three U. S. officials will meet with the Russian delegation in Riyadh on the 18th.
According to a TASS report on the 17th, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said at a press conference on the same day that Russian Foreign Minister Lavroff and Presidential Assistant Ushatkov will fly to the Saudi capital Riyadh as representatives of President Putin, talks with U. S. representatives focused on restoring RUSSIAN-U. S. relations. Peskov said Saudi Arabia had been chosen as the venue for the Russian-american talks because it satisfied both sides.
Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said yesterday that his government had“No knowledge” of the forthcoming talks and would not recognise any deal without its participation. Coincidentally, however, Zelenskiy himself was in the United Arab Emirates that day, before heading to Saudi Arabia. He said the visits were agreed in advance, making it clear they had nothing to do with the U. S.-RUSSIA talks.
Europe is unhappy about the us-russia talks. Senior officials from Putin and Trans are now preparing to meet in Riyadh, the BBC said, just a week after a regular phone call. Peskov said the talks would“Focus primarily on restoring russian-n relations”. In other words, the bilateral relationship was the top priority of the meeting, followed by a meeting with the and Russian presidents“To prepare for possible negotiations on Ukraine,” the commentary said. In Russia, pro-government media have been celebrating the resumption of dialogue between Russia and the United States and the Trump administration’s sharp criticism of Europe, the report said. On the 17th, “Moscow Komsomolskaya Komsomolskaya” said: “Stunned Europe has been overwhelmed by the United States, is still struggling to breathe
Europe wants to come to the table? It’s hard
Almost all media outlets believe that the emergency meeting in Paris on the 17th is unlikely to reach a substantive agreement. Ideally, German news agency DPA said, European leaders would agree on a common strategy for dealing with the new U. S. administration and its ideas for resolving the conflict in Ukraine. Specifically, this could be the offer to Trump and the Red Line for Europe. However, no public statement is expected.
There is too much to decide in Paris, says the BBC. If troops were to be sent to Ukraine, how many would each European country need to send, for how long, and under whose command? What is their mission? If Russia violates the agreed terms of the ceasefire, does that mean European soldiers will engage Russia directly? If so, Will America support them? Europe wants American security guarantees before deploying troops to Ukraine, but probably won’t get them.
Cui hongjian, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Regional and global governance, told the Global Times on the 17th that the recent developments have Beijing Foreign Studies University Europe’s eyes, it was a triple whammy, from US Defence Secretary Alexis Hexes’ NATO speech to vice-president Vance’s Munich speech. Europe held an emergency summit, trying to digest and respond to a series of recent changes in -european relations. It is imperative that Europe must sit at the negotiating table on the Ukraine issue, and Europe needs to formulate countermeasures, in a way that at least gets the Americans to give Europe a seat at the table.
Yang Xiyu, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on the 17th that the United States does not want Europeans to sit at the negotiating table over the Russia-ukraine conflict, because the United States and Europe on the issue of demands and interests do not coincide. Europe’s demand that Ukraine must join NATO is in effect an open rebuke to Washington. The resolution of the Russia-ukraine conflict was the first major step in Donald Trump’s“American-first” foreign policy. For Europe, Ukraine does not join NATO, is equivalent to Europe’s lack of a defense against Russia’s firewall, and the firewall is not important to the United States. The U.S. stance marks the beginning of a major divergence between the U.S.AND Europe on European security interests, which will bring about changes in the structure of the u.s.-european Atlantic Alliance.