European leaders set to hold emergency summit on Ukraine
European leaders are set to gather next week for an emergency summit on the war in Ukraine, in response to concerns the US is moving ahead with Russia on peace talks that will lock out the continent.
once-in-a-generation moment for our national security" and it was clear Europe must take a greater role in Nato.It comes after Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine said European leaders would be consulted but not take part in any talks between US and Russia over ending the war.Senior White House figures are also due to meet Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, US officials say.European leaders set to hold emergency summit on Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in January
European leaders are set to gather next week for an emergency summit on the war in Ukraine, in response to concerns the US is moving ahead with Russia on peace talks that will lock out the continent.Sir Keir Starmer, who is expected to attend the summit in Paris, said it was a "once-in-a-generation moment for our national security" and it was clear Europe must take a greater role in Nato.
It comes after Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine said European leaders would be consulted but not take part in any talks between US and Russia over ending the war.Senior White House figures are also due to meet Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, US officials say.In remarks likely to raise concern in Ukraine and among European allies, special envoy Keith Kellogg said previous negotiations had failed because too many parties had been involved.
"It may be like chalk on the blackboard, it may grate a little bit, but I am telling you something that is really quite honest," he said on Saturday.Europe remains haunted by the Minsk agreements, a failed ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia reached in 2015. The talks, which were brokered by France and Germany, sought to end fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Sir Keir is understood to see his role as bringing US and Europe together to ensure a united approach to peace in Ukraine.The UK prime minister will discuss the views of European leaders when he visits US President Trump at the White House at the end of this month.
further meeting of European leaders together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected after Sir Keir returns from Washington.Sir Keir said the UK would "work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together", adding the two could not "allow any divisions in the alliance to distract" from "external enemies This is a once in a generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia," he said.
"It's clear Europe must take on a greater role in Nato as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine's future and face down the threat we face from Russia."
