French President Emmanuel Macron has convened an emergency summit for European leaders to discuss Ukraine, as Presidents Trump and Putin prepare for peace talks, News.Az informs via National Review.
Trump said last week that he expects to hold several meetings to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.
“We ultimately expect to meet,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “In fact, we expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there, and we’re going to meet also, probably in Saudi Arabia. The first time we’ll meet in Saudi Arabia.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine had not been invited to any meetings between Trump and Russia.
“It is strange to hold a meeting in such format before we had consultations with our strategic partners,” Zelensky said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.
Macron has reportedly responded to the news by calling European leaders to an emergency meeting in Paris, according to several outlets.
“I’m very glad that President Macron has called our leaders to Paris,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said at the Munich conference on Saturday, according to Politico.
Sikorski said the meeting would involve discussions about the implications of Trump’s actions “in a very serious fashion.”
“President Trump has a method of operating which the Russians call razvedka boyem – reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position . . . And we need to respond,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the summit will be a “once in a generation” national security moment.
Macron had previously expressed a willingness to work with Trump when Trump was elected in November.
“Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump,” Macron wrote at the time. “Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.”
Zelensky, meanwhile, has responded to comments from Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth suggesting last week that it is “unrealistic” to hope for a return to the version of Ukraine’s borders that existed before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Zelensky said Ukraine can cede occupied territory to Russia “diplomatically” but not “judicially,” during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that aired Sunday.
Asked about the comments by NBC’s Kristen Welker, Zelensky said, “Judicially, we will not recognize … our occupied territory like territory of Russia. We will never do it.”
He said, however, that he’d be willing to discuss ceding territory as part of a diplomatic deal where Ukraine could join NATO.
“Yes, we have to return it diplomatically. Yes, we can. If we are in NATO, it’s understandable why diplomatically, it’s very understandable,” Zelensky said.
He said that the main priority is “of course not to lose people” and that in the future, Ukraine could seek a “good way, diplomatic” way to recoup territorial losses.
But last week, Hegseth said that the U.S. “does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome for a negotiated settlement.”
