February 19 ------ Europe will invest more in security and lead on providing guarantees to Kyiv, but cooperation with Washington to secure peace remains crucial, European leaders said after an emergency meeting held ahead of US-Russia talks on Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron pulled together an urgent meeting after US President Donald Trump arranged bilateral talks between envoys from Washington and Moscow in Saudi Arabia and excluded European allies and Ukraine from them. “Europe is ready and willing to step up,” NATO boss Mark Rutte said on X after the meeting. “To lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Ready and willing to invest a lot more in our security.”
Working together with Washington on safeguarding any agreement to end the war in Ukraine remains key, officials said. “Everyone feels the great sense of urgency,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on X. “At this crucial time for the security of Europe we must continue to stand behind Ukraine.” “Europe will have to make a contribution towards safeguarding any agreement, and cooperation with the Americans is essential,” he said. It remains unclear, however, how Europe will engage Washington after Trump stunned Ukraine and European allies calling last week Russian President Vladimir Putin, long ostracised by the West, without consulting them. “We agree with President Trump on a “peace through strength” approach,” a European official said after the Paris meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The US decision has sparked a realization among European nations that they will have to do more to ensure Ukraine’s security. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who before the meeting said he was willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, said on Monday there must be a US security commitment for European countries to put boots on the ground. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Ukraine envoy, said he would visit Ukraine from Wednesday and was asked if the US would provide a security guarantee for any European peacekeepers. “I’ve been with President Trump, and the policy has always been: You take no options off the table,” he said.
Source: rappler.com
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