PARIS: France said on Sunday it would host a summit of European leaders on Monday to discuss the Ukraine war and European security as the continent tries to respond concretely to US President Donald Trump’s unilateral approach to the conflict.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg said on Saturday Europe would not have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.
“(Macron) will convene the main European countries to discuss European security,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio, adding that the meeting would be a working session that should not be “over-dramatised”.
Dozens of similar summits have shown Europe to be dithering, at times disunited and politically weak and struggling to come up with a cohesive plan to end the Ukraine war and dealing with Russia, three years into Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.
The French presidency has not announced the meeting, although invitations have been sent for the summit to take place on Monday afternoon, diplomats said.
Invites had gone at least to Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, which would represent Baltic and Scandinavian countries, the European Union leadership and the NATO Secretary General.
Germany’s Olaf Scholz, UK PM Starmer and NATO Secretary General will attend the summit.