A “summit” for Ukraine, without Ukraine or Russia. The meeting of leaders of the “main European countries” this Monday in Paris, concerning Ukraine, has everything of an emergency summit. Under the double pressure of Bulldozer Donald Trump and a Volodymyr Zelensky worried to see the American president and his Russian counterpart Putin settle the fate of his country over his head, and those of Europeans.
Proof of this European feverishness, it was Polish diplomacy that announced its outfit on Saturday, and it was not until mid-day this Sunday that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, confirms ( On France Inter) the event. In the meantime, the Élysée persisted in evoking simple “discussions in progress for a possible informal meeting”.
This meeting will take place at the Élysée in the afternoon. At the level of the leaders who will participate in this summit, Emmanuel Macron will be able to count according to our information on the presence of the heads of government of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, countries -Bas and Denmark, the latter representing the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, on the front line against Russia. The boss of NATO Mark Rutte and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will also participate, as was the president of the European Council.
These exchanges will not be limited a priori to this summit. “Their work will then be able to extend in other formats, with the aim of bringing together all the partners interested in peace and security in Europe,” said the French presidency.
Donald Trump does not count on Europe
This meeting comes at a particularly delicate moment in the transatlantic relationship when Donald Trump’s initiatives, who resumed language with Russian President Vladimir Putin, worry the Europeans. The American president announced this week that he would meet his Russian counterpart in Saudi Arabia to initiate negotiations on Ukraine, where the war triggered by the Russian invasion will enter its fourth year on February 24.
The Munich security conference, which was held from Friday to Sunday, was marked by a hostile speech by the American vice-president JD Vance against the European Union. Questioned in Munich on the possible participation of Europeans, the special envoy of Donald Trump on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, replied: “I am part of the realistic school, I think that will not happen. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has exhorted his allies to strengthen himself to avoid an agreement forged by the Americans “on the back” of Ukraine and Europe.