Europa was not given a seat at the negotiating table in Ukraine, said Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy on Saturday, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they would contribute to security guarantees for Kiev.
A European diplomat said the US document contained six questions, one of which was specifically addressed to the member states of the European Union.
“The Americans are turning to European capitals and asking how many soldiers they are ready to send” said an EU diplomat.
Trump shocked European allies this week by announcing a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kiev first and announcing the immediate start of peace talks.
Representatives of the Trump administration have also made it clear in recent days that they expect European NATO allies to take the main responsibility for the region, as the US now has other priorities, such as border security and the competition with China.
The US approach has “raised concerns” that Europeans may be excluded from a peace agreement. Kellogg said at the global security conference in Munich that the US would act as a mediator in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two main actors.
When asked about the prospects of Europeans sitting at the table, Kellogg said, “I’m a realist. I don’t think that will happen.”
Earlier, Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, had their first phone call since the new US administration took office. “Regular contacts have been agreed, including for the preparation of a Russian-American summit at the highest level” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The EU’s state and government heads plan to meet on a special summit as a counter to the summit in Saudi Arabia. This was initially announced by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on the X platform, but was later withdrawn. Other media also reported the planned summit for Monday or the coming week.
The Élysée Palace only stated that “ongoing talks between leading European politicians are underway about a possible informal meeting, but nothing is yet set in stone.” At the Munich Security Conference, Sikorski had spoken of an invitation to a meeting in Paris through French President Emmanuel Macron.