Europe will not be part of Ukraine peace talks, US envoy says

reuters.com ^ | February 15, 2025 | Andrew Gray, Lili Bayer and John Irish

[ransomnote]

MUNICH, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Europe won't have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks, Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said on Saturday, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.

Trump shocked European allies this week by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kyiv beforehand and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.

Trump administration officials have also made clear in recent days that they expect European allies in NATO to take primary responsibility for the region as the U.S. now has other priorities, such as border security and countering China.

The U.S. moves have stoked fears that Europeans may be cut out of a peace deal that would also impact their own security, particularly if it is seen as too favourable to Russia.

Kellogg told a global security conference in Munich that the U.S. would act as an intermediary in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two protagonists.

Asked about the prospects of the Europeans being at the table, Kellogg said: "I'm (from) a school of realism. I think that's not gonna happen."

At a later event at the conference, Kellogg sought to reassure Europeans by declaring this did not mean "their interests are not considered, used or developed".

But European leaders said they would not accept being shut out of the talks.

"There's no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine's future or European security structure, without Europeans," Finland's President Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich.

"But this means that Europe needs to get its act together. Europe needs to talk less and do more."

[md2576]

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