Europe’s Top Leaders Meet in Paris to Stay Relevant

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Report Europe’s Top Leaders Meet in Paris to Stay Relevant As U.S. and Russian officials begin negotiating an end to the Ukraine war without them. By Rishi Iyengar , a reporter at Foreign Policy . French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes leaders to the Cour d’Honneur of the Élysée Palace for the Ukraine and European security summit in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes leaders to the Cour d’Honneur of the Élysée Palace for the Ukraine and European security summit in Paris, on Feb. 17. Benoît Durand/Hans Lucas via AFP My FP: Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In Foreign & Public Diplomacy United States Russia Europe Ukraine Rishi Iyengar February 18, 2025, 3:48 PM Comment icon View Comments ( 0 ) A group of European leaders convened in Paris for an emergency meeting on Monday, still reeling from a weekend during which their long-standing ability to rely on the United States for support was thrown into question and ahead of a meeting between U.S. and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia that they were excluded from. Monday’s emergency meeting, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, included the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Denmark, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. It came close on the heels of the Munich Security Conference, where U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance gave a speech accusing European countries of straying from “democratic values” over their opposition to far-right political parties and what Vance characterized as excessive censorship. A group of European leaders convened in Paris for an emergency meeting on Monday, still reeling from a weekend during which their long-standing ability to rely on the United States for support was thrown into question and ahead of a meeting between U.S. and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia that they were excluded from. Monday’s emergency meeting, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, included the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Denmark, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. It came close on the heels of the Munich Security Conference, where U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance gave a speech accusing European countries of straying from “democratic values” over their opposition to far-right political parties and what Vance characterized as excessive censorship. Trending Articles Macron Seeks Security Guarantees for Ukraine at the White House But U.S. President Donald Trump is maintaining some ties with the Kremlin. Powered By Advertisement Macron Seeks Security Guarantees for Ukraine at the White House X His remarks—coupled with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s statement earlier that week that Ukraine’s membership in NATO was not a “realistic” outcome of a potential negotiated settlement to end the war and U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to start direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war—left many European leaders feeling shocked and sidelined. In Munich, senior European officials stuck to the central message they have been putting forward for months, despite Vance’s speech and the acknowledgment that Europe must contribute more to its own defense. “There will be no peace in Ukraine without Ukraine or Europe,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told Foreign Policy on the sidelines of the conference. But the Trump administration doesn’t seem to be heeding that message. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, met in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday, where the two sides agreed to begin talks to achieve peace in Ukraine and more broadly improve U.S.-Russia relations. No Ukrainian or European representatives were included, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky postponed his own visit to Saudi Arabia scheduled for Wednesday. “There is now a sort of ideological convergence between Moscow and Washington against Europeans,” said Thomas Gomart, director of the Paris-based think tank Institut Français des Relations Internationales, describing the Trump administration’s stance as a “strategic gift, which has been given to Putin for almost nothing at this stage.” The problem, even for Europe’s most powerful nations, is that they cannot seem to agree on how to proceed. Macron, who skipped the Munich Security Conference, has tried to play interlocutor, speaking to Trump before and after Monday’s emergency meeting, when he also spoke to Zelensky. “We will work on this together with all Europeans, Americans, and Ukrainians,” he wrote in a post on X. “This is the key.” France is reportedly planning to host a second meeting on Wednesday with other European nations that weren’t included in Monday’s meeting, as well as North American ally Canada. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in an op-ed in the Telegraph on Sunday that he would be willing to commit British peacekeeping troops to Ukraine if a peace deal is reached. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on the other hand, told reporters categorically on Monday that Poland will not send troops to Ukraine, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz—facing a snap election next week—said it was “ inappropriate ” to discuss peacekeeping troops before a peace deal is reached. “For Europeans, there is this idea that if a cease-fire is really implemented, Ukraine should continue to be supported and maybe Europeans should be able to provide security guarantees,” Gomart said. “Having said that, there is deep division among them regarding the security guarantees, and there is also division in terms of what sort of military risk Europeans are ready to take by themselves.” Rishi Iyengar is a reporter at Foreign Policy . X: @Iyengarish Read More On Britain | Europe | Foreign & Public Diplomacy | France | Germany | Poland | Russia | Saudi Arabia | Ukraine | United States | War Join the Conversation Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription. Already a subscriber? Log In . Subscribe Subscribe View 0 Comments Join the Conversation Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now. Subscribe Subscribe Not your account? Log out View 0 Comments Join the Conversation Please follow our comment guidelines , stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs. You are commenting as . Change your username | Log out Change your username: Username I agree to abide by FP’s comment guidelines . (Required) Confirm CANCEL Confirm your username to get started. The default username below has been generated using the first name and last initial on your FP subscriber account. 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