The News
European countries released a joint statement Wednesday insisting that they must be part of any peace talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, hours after US President Donald Trump announced that he would begin negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s announcement underscored bloc officials’ fears that the US has “essentially called time” on support for Kyiv, Politico wrote.
Ahead of a NATO meeting Wednesday in Brussels, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Ukraine will likely have to cede some territory to Russia and give up on its ambition to join NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made both stipulations central to any peace deal, although he has since floated giving up some territory.
Zelenskyy also spoke to Trump Wednesday, and is set to meet with US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference Friday.
SIGNALS
European leaders feel increasingly sidelined
Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war, but the Wednesday announcement has stunned European officials: The shock underscores the fact that EU relations with Trump and his administration are “virtually non-existent,” Politico reported. Trump, meanwhile, seems to believe that Europe’s role is to “shut up,” one analyst told the Financial Times. The bloc is increasingly worried that any peace agreement negotiated between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin alone would not secure Ukraine or protect Europe from Moscow — Germany’s foreign minister said it was “naive” to think otherwise. In that scenario, The Telegraph argued, “Putin would return to Ukraine in a few years, and take Kharkiv and Kyiv. He would then invade a NATO country… It’s Putin and Trump’s world now.”
Zelenskyy holds cards close to chest after Trump announcement
Zelenskyy’s public response to Trump gave little away: The Ukrainian leader has sought to appeal to Trump’s transactional approach, seeming to successfully pitch a deal to exchange critical minerals for US support. Domestically, Zelenskyy faces pressure from Ukrainians who still believe that “no deal is better than a bad deal,” Foreign Affairs wrote, and from other Kyiv lawmakers. “Our goals and objectives remain unchanged,” Yehor Cherniev, who leads Ukraine’s delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly, told Semafor, stressing the liberation of occupied territories, obtaining NATO or US security guarantees, and integration with the Euro-Atlantic community. “Perhaps this will require more effort and time than expected, but we will never abandon our strategic goals and interests.” Zelenskyy also faces growing Trump administration calls for Ukraine to hold elections that could see his position challenged.
Mathias Hammer contributed to this report.