Ukraine wants Europe to quickly name a representative for possible peace negotiations with the US and Russia, said one of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leading advisers.
“It must be a decision made quickly,” Ihor Zhovkva, deputy chief of Zelensky’s office, Bloomberg. “I hope that right after the meeting in Paris. We must act, not reflect. ”
Zhovkva, who is in Brussels for security-related consultations, refused to suggest names, but indicated that the person should have a level of leadership to have the same status as Zelensky, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin .
Zelensky also supported the idea, telling reporters in Kiev for the Videoconferencing of the United Arab Emirates: “There must be a representative of Europe.”
EU leaders were shocked by the speed with which Trump pressed to start negotiations with Putin, US and Russia officers scheduled to meet in Saudi Arabia this week.
French President Emmanuel Macron hurriedly summoned a mini-summary on Monday (17) in Paris with several European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to discuss Ukraine and possible ways to increase defense spending in Europe.
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Although a formal conclusion is not expected, they intend to start preparing an answer after US officials at the Munich Security Conference last week state that there is a limit to what Washington is willing to do militarily in Europe.
Macron talked to Trump over 20 minutes before the meeting, according to the French presidency. Macron also plans to update Trump after the summit.
The US also discreetly approached European nations for details about which security guarantees would be willing to provide Ukraine to ensure a lasting peace agreement, the Bloomberg. In particular, Trump administration wants to know how allies should react if any peace maintenance forces are attacked by Moscow.
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With the US determined to act rapidly, Europe runs the risk of being marginalized in negotiations that can ultimately determine the safety balance on the continent for years if it does not quickly present a tangible plan.
European officers and Kiev said they wanted the allies to agree to security guarantees before talking to Russia, and Ukraine will not agree with anything that has not participated in the negotiation. Several officers have told Bloomberg that to influence discussions, Europe needs not only to bring something tangible to the table but also find out who is talking about it.
Some European officers complained that most member states of the European Union were excluded from the meeting in Paris. Slovenia President Natasa Pirc Musar said that Paris’s format sends the “wrong message” because he suggests that the EU consensus on Ukraine and other issues may be collapsing.
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The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the chairman, Antonio Costa, were invited to represent the broadest bloc, along with NATO head Mark Rutte.
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