On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European nations find themselves in a transatlantic rift with their ally the United States.
Under President Donald Trump, the US and Russia have started peace talks and excluded Ukraine and Europe from the process.
Many European leaders, frustrated with Trump’s conduct regarding Ukraine, are now working to come up with a way to provide security guarantees for the war-torn country.
Here is what European leaders are doing to back Kyiv:
This month, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to hold peace talks with Russia. This sparked concern among European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that they were being excluded from the talks.
“No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. … Europe must have a seat at the table when decisions about Europe are being made,” Zelenskyy said on February 15 at the Munich Security Conference.
On February 17, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted European leaders for an emergency summit at Elysee Palace in Paris to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine. A day later, top diplomats from the US and Russia met in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine or Europe at the table. The two countries said they discussed mending their relationship.
Since then, Trump and Zelenskyy have become embroiled in a war of words. Trump has called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” and accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia. Zelenskyy has hit back by saying that the US president lives in a Russian-made “disinformation space”.
Leaders of the 27 European Union countries will convene for an emergency summit on March 6. European Council President Antonio Costa announced on Sunday that this meeting will take place in Brussels. The summit will be about Ukrainian and European security.
“We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security,” he wrote on social media.
EU leaders last met on February 3 to discuss how to avoid a tariff war with the US.
The EU is developing a military aid package for Ukraine worth at least 20 billion euros (about $21bn), three EU diplomats told Politico.
The US news site reported the aid package could consist of cash and military hardware, such as missiles and artillery shells. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is behind the push to replenish military aid to Kyiv.
The Trump administration is stepping back from providing security guarantees to Ukraine and wants Europe to take the driver’s seat, noting that the US has other priorities, such as border security.
