Macron announces a new summit of “European and non -European leaders” after the first US meeting and Russia on Ukraine
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has announced a new meeting of “European and non -European” leaders for this Wednesday to deal with the situation in Ukraine. The meeting occurs 48 hours after the first and 24 hours later of the start of the conversations between Russia and the US about Ukraine without the EU or kyiv.
The new meeting, announced on Tuesday by Macron in an interview with several regional media, will take place two days after the one held in the Elysium with the leaders of Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark, in addition to those responsible of the European Union and NATO.
According to sources consulted by Reuters, the countries invited for Wednesday are Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden and Belgium. And the format would be hybrid, including video participation, according to diplomatic sources to the British agency.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said Tuesday: “I spoke with Secretary of State Frame Rubio after his conversations in Riyadh. Russia will try to divide. Let's not fall into your traps. Working with the US we can achieve a fair and lasting peace, in the terms that Ukraine wants. ”
Macron confirmed that Europe should find a way to have influence on the peace negotiations between the US and Russia and pointed out that before the weekend he will have spoken with the 27 European Union members.
At the moment, neither the president nor the Elysee gave more details about the meeting, nor on the countries that will participate in it.
The Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever will participate in this new consultation on Ukraine convened by the French president, as confirmed to the Belgian agency his spokesman, who said that the flamenco nationalist politician will do so by videoconference.
Macron confirmed that before Monday, he phoned his American counterpart Donald Trump, whom he attributed the merit of “playing a decisive role to allow a negotiation and the end of the conflict.”
“He has recreated strategic ambiguity for President Putin. Where his predecessor (Joe Biden) had said that he would never send troops on the ground, giving predictability to Putin, the new president uses very firm words and therefore there is uncertainty. That uncertainty can create pressure, ”he said.
But he warned that “a lasting peace cannot be negotiated without Ukraine”, while considering that Europe can “contribute its solutions” such as giving “security guarantees” once the agreement is concluded.
In that sense, it ruled out the sending of French troops to conflict areas, but it will continue to help Ukraine with war material and with experts, something they are studying with the British, but far from the front, he said.
Macron acknowledged that Europe alone cannot guarantee Ukraine defense in the current situation, so the country's adhesion could be studied to NATO.
“Given the fact that Russia is a state endowed with nuclear capacity, for European partners it is a key point” the United States contest, Macron stressed.
Another possible solution would be, he said, the sending of a peace maintenance force under the UN mandate that would act in the entire front line.
Macron said to be willing to talk to Putin: “If you call me, of course I will lift the phone. At the moment in which it is appropriate, in this cycle, future negotiations, I will obviously return the call, if it is useful for the situation. ”
Despite this, he considers Russia “an existential threat to Europeans because of the actions carried out in various domains”, such as “the Polish border, cyber attacks in several countries, attacks such as those of the United Kingdom, information manipulations or of electoral processes, as in Romania, or its explicit threats with the nuclear doctrine. ”
Faced with this, he reiterated that Europe must invest more in its defense and opted to repeal the 3 % deficit roof rule in the EU, when the surplus is destined for military expenses, and study common financing mechanisms similar to those that are They launched during the Covid.
