Europe has no seat in Ukraine peace talks

(CLO) Europe will not have a seat at the peace negotiating table on Ukraine, US envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg announced at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday (February 15).

This week, US President Donald Trump stunned European allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kiev first and announcing the immediate start of peace talks.

Mr Kellogg told the Munich Security Conference that the US would play a mediating role in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the main parties. Asked about the prospect of Europeans at the negotiating table, Mr Kellogg said: "I'm a realist. I don't think that's going to happen."

US Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg. Photo: CC/Wiki

Europe is worried and calls for solidarity

At a later event at the conference, Mr Kellogg sought to reassure Europeans by saying this did not mean “their interests are not considered, used or developed”.

But EU leaders said they would not accept being excluded from the talks. The US had earlier sent a questionnaire to EU countries asking what they could contribute to Kiev’s security.

"We cannot discuss or negotiate Ukraine, the future of Ukraine or the European security architecture without Europeans," Finnish President Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich. "But this means that Europe needs to act. Europe needs to talk less and do more."

A European diplomat said the US document included six questions, including one specifically for EU member states. “The Americans are approaching European capitals and asking how many troops they are willing to deploy,” one diplomat said.

An official from the French President's Office said on Saturday that France is discussing with its allies the possibility of holding an informal meeting of European leaders on Ukraine to discuss the issues.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the event would take place on Monday. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also called on Europeans to act together.

"I want to say to my European friends, please join the debate, not by complaining about whether you can, or cannot, sit at the table, but by putting forward concrete proposals, ideas, increasing (defense) spending," he said in Munich.

Will there be a European army?

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a European army, saying that the continent can no longer be sure of receiving protection from the United States and can only receive respect from Washington with a strong army.

Mr Zelenskyy said Kiev would never accept a deal made behind its back. In his speech in Munich, the Ukrainian president said US Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the summit the previous day had made clear that relations between Europe and the United States were changing.

“To be honest – we cannot rule out now that the United States will say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” Zelenskyy said as the war with Russia nears its fourth year.

He said a European army - including Ukraine - was needed so that "the future of the continent depends only on Europeans - and decisions about Europeans are made in Europe".

European countries cooperate militarily mainly within NATO, but governments have so far rejected calls for a single European army over the years, arguing that defence is a matter of national sovereignty.

Huy Hoang (according to MSC, Reuters, AJ)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/dac-phai-vien-my-chau-au-khong-co-ghe-trong-dam-phan-hoa-binh-ukraine-post334701.html