European leaders gather for Ukraine conference
French President Emmanuel Macron has convened a conference of European leaders following Donald Trumps announcement that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had begun talks over Ukraine last week, according to RFI on the 16th of February.
President Macron’s office released a statement saying that the leaders of ‘Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark’ would be convening in Paris.
Europe has had fair warning that a Trump Presidency would herald a new geopolitical order, with Trump making it clear during his presidential campaign that he would end the war in Ukraine – initially claiming to do so within the first 24 hours in office.
So far, Trump and Putin have only talked over the phone.
However, that looks set to change with proposed meetings in Saudi Arabia between the leaders due to take place in the coming weeks.
Despite US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assuring that peace negotiations would include Ukraine, when Trump was pressed on the matter last week he was less reassuring.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been resolute that Ukraine must be involved in any peace negotiations and has been an ardent proponent that Europe must act decisively to change its security guarantor.
At the Munich Security Conference last week, he called for a ‘European Army’, something that Macron has occasionally suggested – less resolutely – at since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The fear amongst those within Ukraine and the EU is that Trump will aim to push a peace deal through quickly in order to focus on other foreign policy aims.
The security of Europe is no longer the U.S priority that it has historically been.
The Trump administration has previously warned NATO and its allies that Europe will no longer be its top security priority as its foreign policy aims shift toward China and the Middle East.
For Ukraine – and for Europe – the Trump presidency threatens to weaken their security, they will hope that this conference can be a chance for conversations to be held over a a new era in European security.
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