European Central: European Leaders Display Unity In Attempt To Find Peace in Ukraine
As the United States engages in separate negotiations with both Ukraine and Russia to end the war between the two countries, European leaders find themselves in an unusual position—on the sidelines. On Tuesday, February 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Saudi Arabia to discuss the war and ending the ‘abnormal period’ in relations between the U.S. and Russia. This meeting set the stage for a potential summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not present at the meeting in Saudi Arabia were Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky or any of Europe’s leaders.
Europe’s exclusion from these negotiations came after a week of growing disunity within the Transatlantic alliance. It started with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth alleging that ‘NATO membership for Ukraine was not a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement, and that European security was no longer a priority for the US.’ Then, President Trump had a lengthy phone conversation with President Putin, effectively ending the longstanding Western position of ‘nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.’ Finally, U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivered a blistering critique of European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, accusing them of suppressing free speech in their countries. ‘The threat that I worry most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia,’ Vance told the impassive audience. ‘What I worry about is the threat from within.’
Following these barbs from the Trump administration and their exclusion from negotiations, European leaders scrambled to present a united front. On Monday, February 17, European presidents and prime ministers gathered in Paris at the Élysée Palace. There, Europe’s leaders discussed the potential deployment of European soldiers to Ukraine and the importance of increasing defense spending across the continent. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the press that the meeting served as an opportunity for European leaders to devise the most effective strategy to support a peace process, which included discussions about ‘wanting to put troops in Ukraine post a peace deal.’ For his part, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said after the meeting that he is willing to ‘consider committing British forces on the ground, alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement.’ Nevertheless, many European leaders reiterated the importance of the United States being involved in the post-war settlement as a guarantor of Ukraine’s security and sovereignty. Rutte stated that ‘[These talks indicate that] Europeans [are] willing to step up, getting positively engaged, willing to help out in Ukraine post a peace deal, including with troops if necessary, but clearly with an American backup — because you have to make clear that the deterrence is completely in place and that Putin will never try again.’
However, a little over a week later, Europe’s leaders were once again caught on the back foot. Following President Trump’s and Vice President Vance’s chastisement of President Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, February 28, and the resulting collapse of the rare minerals deal the two leaders were supposed to sign, European leaders, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were once again gathering—this time at London’s Lancaster House—to discuss next steps for securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Britain’s Starmer remarked that the West is at a ‘crossroads in history,’ and that the moment required not ‘more talk,’ but action. The meeting had three priorities: Ukraine’s immediate needs, securing a ‘lasting deal’ to conclude the conflict, and ‘planning for strong security guarantees.’
At the summit, European leaders, led by Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, outlined a month-long ‘truce in the air, on the seas and energy infrastructures,’ according to Macron. This would be followed by a ‘second phase,’ which would involve ‘troops on the ground.’ This would involve the creation in Starmer’s words of a ‘coalition of the willing,’ a collection of countries that would send soldiers to Ukraine to keep the peace. ‘If a deal is done, it has to be a deal that is then defended,’ Starmer said. Yet, he made it clear that the deal would still need American backing. He insisted that the United States is ‘not an unreliable ally,’ saying that once the final details are decided, Europe’s leaders will present the plan to the United States.
Unlike the summit in Paris, Zelensky was present at the negotiations in London, held just two days after his Oval Office row with Trump and Vance. After the meeting concluded, he commended his fellow European leaders, posting on X that ‘Europe’s unity is at an exceptionally high level, one that has not been seen in a long time.’ In a separate statement, he said that any future peace deal should begin with a prisoner exchange, including the ‘return of children’ who had been abducted and transported to Russia. This, he claimed, would ‘demonstrate Russia’s true intention for peace.’
Many European leaders concurred with Zelensky’s summary of the summit. They extolled the display of European unity, with several leaders emphasizing that the summit served as a correction to the false narrative that ‘the continent was a bystander in the negotiations to end the war.’ Yet, the European peace plan seems ‘destined to rival the negotiation process that Trump’s administration opened with Russia last month.’ Thus, the plan risks further antagonizing the American administration, potentially hindering any reconciliation between Trump and Zelensky that could pave the way for a secure and lasting resolution to the war in Ukraine.