European leaders are set to hold an emergency working meeting in Paris on Monday to align their position after the Trump administration said Europe would be excluded from talks with Russia to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting between several key European leaders aims to address “the situation in Ukraine and security issues in Europe” by “bringing together all the partners interested in peace and security” in the region, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement Sunday.
The talks come a day before U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia that exclude Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is currently in the neighboring United Arab Emirates on a scheduled trip to boost humanitarian support for Ukraine, officials said.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he would “never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine,” adding, “there is no any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us.”
Concerns have risen among European leaders that Trump is forging ahead with a peace deal with Putin that could undermine Kyiv and broader European security after Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, suggested during the Munich Security Conference that Europe would not have a seat at the table for the peace talks.
The Elysée Palace, the residence of President Macron, said leaders of several European Union countries would attend the meeting, along with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Presidents of the European Council and European Commission, and the Secretary-General of NATO. It added that proceedings would get underway at 3:45 p.m. local time (9:45 a.m. ET).