Paris [France], February 17: European leaders will discuss US President Donald Trump's plans to end the Ukraine war in the French capital on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed in an interview with broadcaster France Inter on Sunday.
Barrot did not specify who would participate in the discussions, which he said will be hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.
According to diplomats, the meeting will focus on how Europeans can contribute to a possible peace deal.
Since the phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, there have been concerns in Europe and Ukraine that Europeans might be excluded from any peace agreement.
There are fears that Trump does not want Europeans at the negotiating table, yet expects them to bear the burdens of implementing a peace solution.
Negotiations for peace in Ukraine are meanwhile gaining momentum: In the coming week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior Russian representatives are reportedly set to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to the Russian war.
Additionally, a meeting between Trump and Putin is to be prepared in the Arab kingdom.
According to Politico, no European representatives are expected to be present at next week's talks in Saudi Arabia. Citing a Ukrainian official, the US magazine reported that Ukraine will also not send representatives there.
US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg responded evasively at the Munich Security Conference when questioned about the involvement in negotiations demanded by European allies.
The British broadcaster BBC quoted him as saying that previous negotiations had failed because too many parties were involved.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile welcomed Trump's call with Putin, calling it a turning point towards dialogue and away from conflict in an interview with Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin-affiliated correspondent for Russian state television.
"This is a signal that we are now trying to resolve things through dialogue and talking about peace - and not about war," Peskov said.
He also accused Western leaders of denying talks with Russia and seeking to fight the war to the bitter end. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 with the goal of annexing the entire country.
According to Peskov, the planned meeting between the two presidents still requires a great deal of preparation, and bilateral relations between the two countries were badly damaged during the Biden administration. He did not mention an exact date for the meeting.
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his US counterpart Rubio on the phone for the first time since the new US administration took office, agreeing to create a channel of communication.
Three years ago, Putin ordered his country's war of aggression against Ukraine, claiming that the planned accession of the neighbouring country to NATO endangered Russia's security and that Kiev was oppressing the Russian-speaking minority in the east of the country.
Since then, the war has claimed hundreds of thousands of victims, according to some estimates, including many civilians, especially in the Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine.
Source: Qatar Tribune
