European leaders had been attributable to meet in Paris on Monday (Feb 17) to deal with Washington’s shock coverage shift on the conflict in Ukraine, as Britain declared itself able to dispatch peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers final week when he known as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to speak about beginning negotiations to finish the battle.
The unexpectedly convened casual summit of European leaders set to begin at 4pm native time comes after Trump stated he may meet Putin “very quickly”.
Hosted by President Emmanuel Macron on the Elysee Palace, the assembly is to assemble the heads of presidency of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, in addition to the heads of the European Council, the European Fee and NATO.
The conflict in Ukraine is days wanting its third anniversary on Feb 24.
Britain’s Keir Starmer stated Sunday that he was willing to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary” in response to what he known as “a once-in-a-generation second for the collective safety of our continent”.
Trump has stated he believes Putin genuinely desires to cease combating in Ukraine, whereas his administration has warned its NATO allies Europe will not be its prime safety precedence.
US defence chief Pete Hegseth additionally appeared to rule out Ukraine becoming a member of NATO or retaking all of its territory misplaced since 2014.
The assembly will tackle “the state of affairs in Ukraine” and “safety in Europe”, the French presidency stated.
“Due to the acceleration of the Ukrainian problem, and because of what US leaders are saying, there’s a want for Europeans to do extra, higher and in a coherent manner, for our collective safety,” an adviser in Macron’s workplace stated.
The Kremlin has pushed for negotiations between US and Russian officers in Saudi Arabia – anticipated within the coming days – to debate not simply the Ukraine battle but additionally broader European safety.
