Macron hastily called for this informal mini-summit with about 10 leaders from European countries.

Afrasianet - Leaders  of key European countries who continue to gather to form a united front after U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart  Vladimir Putin's dialogue  on Ukraine angered them, are also expressing divisions over sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is urging after leaving the Elysee Palace to continue to "work together" to ensure security on the continent.

US President Donald Trump has raised the concern of his European allies from playing the role of spectator to direct negotiations between the United States and Russia to end 3 years of war in Ukraine, after he spoke with his Russian counterpart, while the US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg indicated that Washington does not want the Europeans at the negotiating table.

While these initiatives appeared to be gaining momentum, French President Emmanuel Macron hastily called for an informal mini-summit with about 10 leaders from European EU or NATO countries, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his Polish counterparts Donald Tusk and Italy's Giorgia Meloni.

 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declares that the Paris meeting, which lasted more than 3 hours, "reaffirmed" that Ukraine "deserves peace through force, a peace that respects its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity." 

Von der Leyen wrote on the X platform that "Europe bears its full share of military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, we need to strengthen the defense in Europe."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said after the Paris meeting, which was called after the change in US strategy towards Moscow, that "Russia is now threatening the whole of Europe, unfortunately."

"For this reason, I am very concerned about the idea of a quick ceasefire because it could give Putin and Russia a better prospect ... to mobilize again and attack Ukraine or another country in Europe."

An adviser to President Emmanuel Macron said: "We see that as a result of the acceleration of the Ukrainian file, and also as a result of what American leaders say, there is a need for the Europeans to do more and work better and in a more consistent way for our common security."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said before the meeting: "We will not be able to effectively help Ukraine if we do not immediately take concrete steps related to our defense capabilities."

As he left the meeting, Scholz also called for more "funding" for the defense effort, breaking Germany's sacred budget rules. 

Divisions

But despite the agreement to bolster the continent's defensive efforts, the Europeans disagreed on another issue: sending troops to Ukraine to ensure its security in the event of a ceasefire, which is at the heart of the "security guarantees" they are required to provide to Kiev during negotiations with Moscow.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ready to send troops to Ukraine if necessary to ensure the security of Britain and Europe. "I am prepared to consider a commitment on the ground to British forces alongside others if a sustainable peace deal is reached," he said. 

Sweden also said it "does not rule out" troop deployments if negotiations allow for a "just and lasting peace".

For his part, Scholz said the discussion over the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine was "inappropriate" and "premature", saying he was "a little upset" that it was being addressed now.

Tusk, a staunch supporter of Kiev, stressed that his country would not send troops to Ukraine.

After the meeting, Starmer called on the United States to provide Ukraine with a "security guarantee", saying it was the "only way" to prevent Russia from launching a new attack on the country.

"There must be support from the United States, because a security guarantee from the United States is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again," he said.

Tusk said from Paris that Europe was aware that its relations with the United States had entered a "new phase".

Tusk told reporters: "All participants in this meeting understand that the transatlantic relationship has entered a new phase. We all notice that."

In a sign of divisions in the European Union, Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is close to Moscow and the US president and was not invited to the Paris meeting, criticized "frustrated pro-war and anti-Trump European leaders who unanimously block a peace deal in Ukraine." 

 The Elysee Palace and the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs were the station where the Russian-Ukrainian war train stopped for a long series of unprecedented meetings, as the French capital hosted, at the same time, two delegations; the first American headed by Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, and the envoy of Trump President Steve Witkoff, and the other expanded Ukrainian, which included the director of President Zelensky's office Andrei Yermak, the ministers of foreign affairs and defense Andrei Sepiha and Rustam Umarov, in addition to the national security advisers of Britain and Germany:  Jonathan Powell and Jens Plotner.

President Emmanuel Macron preceded his meeting with Probio and Witkov, as part of a working lunch at the presidential palace, in the presence of Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, in contact with his Ukrainian counterpart. In the afternoon, an unplanned expanded meeting chaired by Macron that included the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations, British and German security advisers and the French foreign minister was the culmination of talks that continued throughout the day. The benefit of these meetings is that they do not leave the Ukrainian delegation alone and face to face with representatives of the US administration, which represents support and support for it.

Before and after noon, three intensive meetings took place at the Elysee, moderated by President Macron's diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonn, the most important of which was the meeting that included representatives of the three European countries "France, Germany and Britain" with the American and Ukrainian delegations, the first of its kind, knowing that the European side was excluded from the bilateral talks held by the US side in Saudi Arabia with the Russian and Ukrainian parties.

In parallel, a meeting took place at the French Foreign Ministry that included Minister Jean-Noël Barrow and his American counterpart Rubio, and discussed, in addition to Ukraine, the two files of the Middle East, namely the Israeli war on Gaza and the Iranian nuclear file.  In parallel, French Defense Minister Sebastien Le Cornot arrived in the US capital to meet with his counterpart Pete Higgsyth, the special envoy for Ukraine, General Joseph Kellogg, as well as intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, for a round of talks on Ukraine, but also NATO, US plans towards it and European fears of a decline in the American role in it.

Europeans enter the line of negotiations

The importance of the Paris talks, according to a European diplomatic source, lies in three related things: First, to learn directly from the American side about the outcome of the war negotiations in Ukraine, in which the United States plays the role of mediator between Moscow and Kiev, and Washington's inability to impose a ceasefire, which Kiev accepted and Moscow reserved and accepted only to stop attacks on energy infrastructure. Second, he conveyed the European view of the US capital through the key officials who represent it in the negotiations, including the reservations of the European Union on the path it is taking, and the affirmation of its intention to continue supporting Ukraine financially and militarily, as well as the European rejection of what was stated in the latest statements by Litkov in which he explicitly talked about the annexation of five Ukrainian regions to Russia, the first of which is Crimea. Perhaps the most prominent evidence of the Europeans' involvement in supporting Ukraine is the announcement by incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that he supports supplying Kiev with missiles. Taurus" developed that Olaf Scholz, the outgoing chancellor, refused to transfer to Ukrainian forces. In this regard, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, considered that the use of Taurus missiles to hit Russian infrastructure would be considered a "direct participation" of Germany in the Ukraine war, which logically means a response from Russia to this.

Two European demands from Washington

Third, the arrival of the U.S. delegation to Paris shows Washington's desire to return to dialogue with the European side. Rubio was quoted as saying that the purpose of the visit "pushed forward President Trump's goal of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine and ending the massacres."

This comes as the "separate" US peace efforts stall, and as the Russian president practices the art of maneuvering, buying time and obtaining the greatest concessions from the US president at the expense of Ukraine. While Witkov said after meeting Putin that the latter "wants a sustainable peace", Paris and most Europeans believe the exact opposite.

The problem with President Macron today is that his relationship with Putin has been completely severed, and that messages are delivered to him through the American side. The Europeans hope that the Paris meetings will usher in a new phase of transatlantic consultation and cooperation after nearly three months of unilateral U.S. policy on Ukraine or the Middle East, as well as Trump policy on tariffs.

Europeans want Trump, on the one hand, to be more assertive in its dealings with Moscow and, on the other, more understanding of Ukraine's demands. They believe that the Paris talks should push in this direction. More than once, Trump has expressed his "frustration" at the inability of negotiations mediated by his country to make tangible progress despite his direct contact with President Putin or through his envoy Watkov.

Moscow did not delay in criticizing the Paris meetings, which it sees as "an attempt by many people, structures and countries to sabotage the existing dialogue with the United States," according to Kiriel Dimitrov, President Putin's envoy in charge of international economic issues who visited Washington earlier this month.

Dimitrov described President Putin's recent meeting with Hitkov as "very productive," adding that "there is a very useful dialogue" with Washington, although "certainly taking place in very difficult circumstances," as "attacks continue and disinformation continues." The latter, as quoted by news agencies, regretted the "growing distortion" targeting Russia. There is no doubt that the aforementioned dialogue benefits Russia primarily because it breaks the isolation imposed on it by Westerners, including the United States, since February 2022, that is, with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Where is the "alliance of the willing" now?

Day after day, Europeans criticize Russia's continued violation of a partial U.S.-brokered ceasefire that has been in place for more than a month, seeing it as Russia's refusal to end the war. Europeans seeking a European force that would be the guarantor of any future peace deal between Moscow and Kiev still hope to receive an American guarantee that could serve as a "safety net" for the force. Despite the efforts of Paris and London, which chair theCoalition of the willing, and together they organized high-level meetings in the two capitals, the picture of the promised power remains blurry.

To date, a group of thirty countries, including non-European countries such as Canada, Australia and Japan, have expressed sending troops to Ukraine. The U.S. side is still reluctant to provide them while Moscow continues to reject them outright.

In this context, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepha wrote on  platform X that the parties meeting in Paris "discussed ways to reach a lasting and just peace, namely the achievement of a complete ceasefire, the involvement of a multinational military force, the further development of Ukraine's security structure, and the provision of security guarantees for our country." For his part, Zelensky's chief of staff wrote on the same platform that the meeting "is working on important issues for the security of Ukraine and the security of the whole of Europe.

Are the Europeans out of the game, in the face of the speed of Trump's moves and peace negotiations with Russia over Ukraine?

Faced with Donald Trump's speed and his treatment of the world as a trade deal, Europeans are struggling to stay in the game, with tens of billions paid to Ukraine and millions of Ukrainian refugees, and sustained support over the years of war.

The speed of peace negotiations initiated by Donald Trump without them and without consulting them, without even Ukraine, and even the recent statements of Donald Trump attack Ukraine, and consider that President Zelensky is the one who caused this war, which of course is largely contrary to the European position. French President Emmanuel Macron thus tried through two summits in Paris to reach a unified European position, but even this he could not reach.

There is a clear divide in the European position between those who may have been shocked by the speed with which Donald Trump walked on this issue, and those who want to distance themselves from a greater escalation with Donald Trump. Therefore, there are European leaders who refuse to send peacekeepers in Ukraine, there are those who want but want American guarantees, and there are those who want to be part of the next stage, but of course the European Union with its twenty-seven countries is necessary to reach consensus in Such important decisions, and this was not reached by the Europeans, neither through the first summit in Paris nor the second summit, nor even through the NATO meetings here in Brussels.

Can Europe avoid a clash with Trump while protecting Ukraine?

Europeans may have few options, but what can be done now, according to observers, is to continue to support Ukraine, make up for the lack of aid if the United States stops its support and completely lifts its hand from Ukraine, accelerates the accession process and allows Zelensky to participate regularly in European summits.

This is what the Europeans can do now, but at the same time the Europeans are facing Donald Trump not only on the Ukrainian front, and not only with regard to their European security, which has become a European responsibility, according to Donald Trump. According to his defense minister and deputy, who was present at the Munich Security Conference, in addition to the trade war he started with the European Union.

Thus, the options are not many or the room for maneuver is not large, but the focus in the next phase is on building a common European defense strategy of Independence from U.S. protection has been postponed little by little, because many Europeans now see that even NATO can no longer fully protect Europe if it is threatened with Donald Trump in the White House. So Europeans need to invest in spending more, but even that needs a lot of time and needs bold decisions.

America's continued dependence on Europe has not worked, and the old continent is unable to agree on a unified policy. While some Europe flirts with Trump, others are confused by the ability to make an independent decision due to their addiction to dependency.