Politics

European Leaders Call Emergency Summit on Ukraine Fearing Trump Has Shut Them Out

TRUMP'S COLD SHOULDER

Leaders from Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom will gather in Paris on Monday.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, France's President Emmanuel Macron and US president Donald Trump walk together after a meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on December 7, 2024.
JULIEN DE ROSA/Julien de Rosa/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron will host an emergency summit of European leaders on Paris on Monday to discuss “European security.” The gathering, confirmed Sunday by Jean-NoĂ«l Barrot, will occur a day after the end of a conference in Munich where Vice President JD Vance gave a combative speech in front of the continent’s leaders, accusing them of failing to respect “freedom of expression” and confirming the U.S. is considering pursuing Ukraine war negotiations without European help. Leaders from Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom are expected to attend, in addition to the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission and the secretary-general of NATO. Polish Foreign Minister RadosƂaw Sikorski, who first revealed invites had gone out for the meeting on Saturday, said he expected leaders will discuss ways to respond to the new administration of President Donald Trump, who he noted “has a method of operating which the Russians call razvedka boyem—reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position." Senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, are due to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to hold talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, sources told Reuters. Europe has not been invited, while Trump last week held a direct call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his country’s illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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