PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that France and its allies agreed Ukraine’s rights and European security concerns should be taken into account in any deal to end the war with Russia, before he heads to Washington next week.
“The position of France and its allies is clear and united. We wish for peace in Ukraine that is lasting,” Macron said on X after a meeting with the leaders of 19 mostly European countries, with most taking part by video link.
US President Donald Trump has stunned the European Union by saying he is ready to resume diplomacy with Vladimir Putin after three years of Russia’s war against Ukraine, over the heads of both European countries and Kyiv.
Macron held the meeting on Ukraine Wednesday afternoon in a bid to coordinate a European response to what he has called an “existential threat” from Russia after the shock US policy shift.
“We stand by Ukraine and will carry out all our responsibilities to ensure peace and security in Europe,” Macron said after the video conference.
But he said participants, which included the leaders of EU nations as well as Iceland, Norway and Canada, stressed Ukraine should be included and “its rights respected” in the process.
They said “robust and credible guarantees” were needed to ensure a lasting deal, and “European security concerns” must be taken into account.
“We are convinced of the need to increase our defense and security spending and capacities for Europe and each of our countries,” Macron added.
Macron is set to meet Trump in Washington as early as Monday, Trump told reporters aboard his plane on Wednesday.
A White House official previously told AFP the meeting would take place “early next week,” on condition of anonymity.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet US envoy Keith Kellogg on Thursday and that he hopes for “constructive” work with the United States, after Trump lashed out against him on social media.
Trump on Wednesday called Zelensky a “dictator,” after a day earlier accusing Kyiv of having “started” the war, sparking pushback from even some members of his own Republican party.
France has been one of Ukraine’s main Western backers since Russia began its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Macron on Monday hosted key European leaders including from Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands, as well as NATO and EU chiefs for emergency talks, but several smaller European countries including Romania and the Czech Republic were reportedly aghast at not having been invited.
Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan and Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden were present in person at the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the French presidency said.
The leaders of Lithuania, Cyprus, Finland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia and the Czech Republic meanwhile joined via video conference call.
Hungary and Slovakia, whose prime ministers are seen as close to Putin, as well as NATO member Turkiye, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eager to act as a mediator, were not on the list of participants.
“Russia poses an existential threat to Europeans,” Macron said in an interview with French regional newspapers published on Tuesday.
“Do not think that the unthinkable cannot happen, including the worst.”
Macron appeared open to the idea of sending forces to Ukraine but emphasized that this could take place only in the most limited fashion and away from the front lines.
France, along with Britain, was considering sending “experts or even troops in limited terms, outside any conflict zone,” he said.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France may have to make some difficult choices.
“Russia has decided to make enemies of us, and we must open our eyes, realize the scale of the threat and protect ourselves,” he told broadcaster RTL.
“If we do nothing, if we remain blind to the threat, the front line will move ever closer to our borders.”
He said earlier that only the Europeans could provide the guarantees necessary to ensure long-lasting “peace” in Ukraine.
To keep up the pressure on Moscow, EU countries on Wednesday agreed a new round of sanctions on Russia, diplomats said.
Macron says France and allies ‘united’ on Ukraine
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Macron says France and allies ‘united’ on Ukraine
- US President Donald Trump has stunned the European Union by saying he is ready to resume diplomacy with Vladimir Putin after three years of Russia’s war against Ukraine
Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa
- Republican president tells reporters that the special visa would probably be available ‘in less than two weeks’
- Trump said that sales of the new visa would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US deficit
Holding a prototype that bore his face and an inscription “The Trump Card,” the Republican president told reporters that the special visa would probably be available “in less than two weeks.”
“I’m the first buyer,” he said. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
Trump previously said that sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority for his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
He said in February that his administration hoped to sell “maybe a million” of the cards and did not rule out that Russian oligarchs may be eligible.
Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says
- Armenia and Azerbaijan said last month that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end almost four decades of conflict
- Fighting over Karabakh, which is part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan but had until 2023 a heavily Armenian Christian population, broke out in the late 1980s
BAKU: US President Donald Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a long-awaited peace treaty, Eric Jacobs, a senior adviser of the State Bureau of Energy Resources of the US Department of State, said on Friday.
Speaking at an energy event in Baku, Jacobs said the peace treaty would usher in “a new era of security and prosperity” for the South Caucasus region.
Armenia and Azerbaijan said last month that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end almost four decades of conflict between the two countries over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Fighting over Karabakh, which is part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan but had until 2023 a heavily Armenian Christian population, broke out in the late 1980s, when both countries were part of the collapsing Soviet Union.
The territory gained de facto independence from Azerbaijan with Armenian support through a series of wars, but was ultimately retaken by Azerbaijan in September 2023, in a military offensive that prompted almost all of its 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee.
Since then, the two countries have both said they want a peace deal, but talks have been fitful and progress slow until a sudden breakthrough last month.
The peace deal is still not expected to be signed quickly though as Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia first change its constitution to remove what Baku says are references to Karabakh independence.
Since the draft deal was agreed, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have also accused each other of firing on positions along the two countries’ closed and heavily militarized border. No casualties have been reported in the incidents.
EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states
- The EU strategy on Central Asia emphasizes Central Asia’s growing strategic importance and aims to foster a stronger partnership
The leaders of the European Union and five Central Asian countries held their first summit on Friday to discuss ways to boost trade and other ties.
The summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is attended by European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Costa declared that “the European Union is eager to build a mutually beneficial partnership with Central Asia, one that goes beyond expectations.”
Von der Leyen said that the summit is set to “deepen trade ties and expand cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, digital connectivity, water and energy.”
The EU strategy on Central Asia emphasizes Central Asia’s growing strategic importance and aims to foster a stronger partnership with the countries of the region.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that during the past seven years trade between Central Asian and EU countries has increased to 54 billion euros ($60 billion), adding that the summit “should become the starting point of a new stage in the development of multi-faceted relations.”
Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland
- Danish leader: ‘If we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening’
- ‘This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security’
NUUK, Greenland: Denmark’s prime minister is wrapping up a three-day visit to Greenland on Friday after telling the US “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen traveled to the strategically critical Arctic island as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.
A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.
Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland’s incoming and outgoing leaders. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.
Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”
“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.
“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”
“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.
The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”
Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.
In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”
He said Trump’s point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we’re going to protect America’s interests come hell or high water.”
Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer
- Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine
BRUSSELS: Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks to bring a halt to fighting in Ukraine and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting after a Kremlin official said on Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process.”
“Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine.
Lammy said that while Putin should be accepting a ceasefire, “he continues to bombard Ukraine. It’s civilian population. It’s energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing.”
Barrot said that Ukraine had accepted ceasefire terms three weeks ago, and that Russia now “owes an answer to the United States.” US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky after he promised last year to bring the war to a swift conclusion.
“Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes,” Barrot said. “It has to be ‘yes.’ It has to be ‘no.’ It has to be a quick answer.”
He said that Russia shows no intention of halting its military campaign, noting that Putin on Monday ordered a call-up intended to draft 160,000 conscripts for a one-year tour of compulsory military service.
The two foreign ministers pledged to continue helping to build up Ukraine’s armed forces – the country’s best security guarantee since the US took any prospect of NATO membership off the table.
Coalition army chiefs were due to meet in Kyiv on Friday. Defense ministers from the group will meet at NATO headquarters next Thursday.
