Reports of planned meeting between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia leaves Europe concerned over Ukraine ceasefire negotiations
Analysis: JD Vance laid bare collapse of transatlantic alliance
As we mentioned in the opening summary, there are reports that senior Trump officials are heading to Saudi Arabia next week to begin so-called peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators.
US national security adviser Mike Waltz, secretary of state Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, according to Politico.
Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said Europe will be consulted – but ultimately excluded – from the talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US. “To my European friends, I would say: ‘Get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up [defence] spending’,” Kellogg said at the Munich conference on Saturday.
Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, said “Europe needs to talk less and do more”, in response to the prospect of being shut out of talks. “There’s no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine’s future or European security structure, without Europeans,” Stubb told reporters in Munich. “But this means that Europe needs to get its act together.”
The Nato chief, Mark Rutte, said Europe had to come up with “good proposals” for securing peace in Ukraine if it wanted to be involved in US-led talks. “If Europeans want to have a say, make yourself relevant,” Rutte told journalists.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, and Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, have discussed Kyiv’s vision of a path to peace with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi. Sybiha said on X the meeting that took place on the sidelines of the Munich conference was to “reaffirm mutual respect for territorial integrity”. On Friday, Wang told the conference that China believes all stakeholders in the war in Ukraine should participate in the peace talks, underscoring Europe’s role in them.
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