It hasn’t been officially confirmed, but the meeting will actually take place and Europe’s heavyweights will be there
Several European leaders will meet next week in Brussels with the president of Ukraine and the secretary general of NATO. The goal is clear: to look for a way to end the war and come up with a plan to maintain peace after a ceasefire.
Although the idea has not yet been written in black and white, the possibility of European forces that are also present in NATO sending soldiers to Ukrainian territory is beginning to take shape.
These are forces that would remain in a kind of buffer zone and that would function as a guarantor of peace between Ukraine and Russia, in a logic that could involve the ceding of Ukrainian territory to Moscow.
According to the newspaper, this idea took shape quickly because of Donald Trump’s imminent inauguration, which will take place on January 20th. No one has yet quite understood how the elected president of the United States intends to “end the war in 24 hours”, as he himself said, but in Europe, and especially in Ukraine, there is fear that this will involve direct conversations with Vladimir Putin, which would put Russia in an advantageous position.
In addition to Mark Rutte and Volodymyr Zelensky, the high-level meeting, which should take place next Wednesday, will also include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda, President of the European Council Antônio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Polish news agency has already confirmed the presence of the country’s head of state, while the Reuters agency added that the prime ministers of Italy and the United Kingdom, Giorgia Meloni and Keir Starmer, will also be present.
This is a meeting that should take place on the sidelines of the European Union-Western Balkans summit, which takes place precisely on Wednesday, and to which several European leaders will travel.
It is worth remembering that the topic of placing European troops in Ukraine was already a topic discussed this week during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Poland. The French president appears to be one of the supporters of the idea, but his Polish counterpart was not so happy. Andrzej Duda made it clear: if NATO troops are to be deployed in Ukraine, Polish soldiers will not be among those forces.
This could be António Costa’s first high-level meeting since assuming the presidency of the European Council.
