PARIS, France—European leaders have called an emergency meeting in Paris Monday after the Trump administration has cut Europe out of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
The growing chasm between the US and Europe on security issues and the Ukraine war became crystal clear at the Munich Security Conference this weekend says Elie Tennenbaum, a security expert at the French Institute for International Relations.
"Their worst nightmare has come true," he says, speaking of European leaders. "They see that the Trump administration is going to bypass them and try to strong-arm Ukraine in negotiating a deal with Russia to end the war."
Tennenbaum says European leaders had seen positive signals and been hopeful that the US and Europe could work together under the Trump administration.
But comments this week by several officials – Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Brussels, Vice president JD Vance and special Russia-Ukraine envoy General Keith Kellogg in Munich, and by president Trump himself, have poured cold water on any such hopes.
"The Europeans now realize they are standing alone," he says.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, pleaded in Munich for Europe to join Ukraine in building a European fighting force. "So that Europe's future depends only on Europeans, and decisions about Europe are made in Europe," he said, to resounding applause.
"Zelensky is saying this is our moment - where we either stand up and fight or we give up and let the Russians and the Americans draw the lines," says Tennenbaum.
Monday's meeting, which is hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron, will be joined by the leaders of Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.
British prime minister Kier Starmer wrote an op-ed in The Daily Telegraph stating that the UK is ready to commit sending troops to Ukraine.
Tennenbaum says Europeans will have to fight for a place at the negotiating table. "To be enough of a troublemaker that the US and Russia realize the process may derail if they're kept out of the room," he says.
The military security expert says he'll be looking to see if the Europeans are willing to take some risks and be bold enough – to buy themselves a seat at the table.
Copyright 2025 NPR
