European leaders are scrambling for responses after Trump reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
United States President Donald Trump’s plan to cut a deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Ukraine and his administration’s new approach to transatlantic ties have left European leaders concerned.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday held a meeting with a Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
The meeting in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh comes after Trump spoke to Putin last week and agreed to hold peace talks to end the three-year conflict without involving his European allies. Trump also said that he might meet Putin in Saudi Arabia.
This has sparked concern among European leaders and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has warned that Kyiv would not recognise any deal made without its involvement.
“No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine … Europe must have a seat at the table when decisions about Europe are being made,” Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
So what’s the Trump administration’s new approach, and how will Europe respond to the new reality?
Rubio, alongside national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, has held talks with the Russian delegation led by Lavrov.
Along with aiming to reset the fractured relations between Washington and Moscow, the Riyadh talks may likely prepare for a possible meeting between Trump and Putin. The talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, would be “primarily devoted to restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations”.
Zelenskyy, who travelled to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, reiterated that he would not accept any decisions between the US and Russia about Ukraine.
European leaders have also expressed their concerns about the exclusion of Europe and Ukraine from the discussions, and have expressed that they want to be part of the negotiations.
“A dictated peace will therefore never find our support,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the weekend after Trump’s unilateral overture to Putin on Wednesday.
Trump later told reporters that Zelenskyy will be involved in the negotiations, without giving further explanation. Keith Kellogg, the US envoy for Ukraine, also tried to reassure that no deal would be imposed on Ukraine.
Kellogg is heading to Kyiv on a three-day visit.
What’s on the agenda at US-Russia talks in Riyadh?
Kyiv, which has lost nearly 20 percent of its territory and thousands of lives, would like to have a deal that addresses its legitimate security concerns.
“We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians,” France’s President Emmanuel Macron posted on X a day after he hosted European leaders in Paris.
European leaders have been left scrambling for responses after the new Trump administration upended the US’s Ukraine policy for the past three years and put forth proposals that will change the dynamics of the transatlantic alliance in place since 1949.
On Sunday, Kellogg, Trump’s envoy for Ukraine, announced that Europe would not be at the table for Ukraine peace negotiations. Last week, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for Ukraine was “unrealistic”.
In line with Trump’s rhetoric that Europe should increase its spending on NATO, Hegseth indicated that Europe should ramp up its financial and military responsibilities in Ukraine. He also ruled out deployment of US troops in Ukraine after any deal is signed with Russia. US Vice President JD Vance reiterated the same point: Brussels should “step up in a big way to provide for its own defence”.
Stung by the tone and messaging from Trump’s top aides, European leaders on Monday gathered in Paris to devise their next steps. Macron was joined by leaders from Germany, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, alongside officials from NATO and the European Union.
“Ready and willing,” NATO chief Mark Rutte posted on X on Monday.
European nations have stepped up their contribution to Kyiv in recent years, providing nearly $140bn in Ukraine aid, more than the US, which has spent about $120bn since the war erupted in February 2022.
Ash from the Chatham House explained that Europe is “realising the US is an unreliable partner”, as Trump’s overture to Putin is being seen by some as a betrayal by a key ally.
Europe’s main fear is Russian aggression beyond Ukraine, as Washington has been Europe’s security guarantor for decades through the NATO alliance. But Trump has been demanding that Europe shoulder more responsibility for its security. According to media reports, the US wants to pull out some of its troops from Europe.
In 2014, NATO member states pledged to contribute at least two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defence, but more than 10 years later, only 23 of the 32 members have honoured their commitment. Trump wants them to increase defence spending to five percent of GDP.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday posted on X, saying “we need a surge in defence in Europe”.
The transatlantic rift comes as Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Europe, calling the economic relationship with the European Union “an atrocity”.
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