On Monday 17 February at a meeting in Paris between European leaders regarding the situation in Ukraine and security issues in Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for unity between Europeans and Americans on security issues. Prior to the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken by telephone with US President Donald Trump.
“There must be no division of security and responsibility between Europe and the United States”, declared Olaf Scholz after the meeting, which brought together the Heads of State or Government of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, and the Secretary General of NATO. According to Mr Scholz, “NATO is based on the fact that we always act together and share the risk (...). This must not be called into question”.
Ahead of the meeting, Donald Tusk, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, reiterated that Ukraine – and security in the region – “needs both Europe and the United States”. “Regardless of what anyone has to say to each other sometimes in brutal words (...), there is no reason for allies arguing among themselves not to find a common language on the most important issues”, he warned, adding that it was “in the interests of Europe and the United States to cooperate as closely as possible”.
Speaking to the media in Brussels on Monday, Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine, dampened European hopes by saying that there were no plans for Europe to take part in peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine, but that Europeans would be kept informed. “I don’t think it’s reasonable or feasible to have everybody sitting at the table”, he declared, while explaining that it was not impossible for the subject of the global security architecture in Europe, a subject demanded by Russia, to form part of the negotiations between the United States and Russia. The American and Russian delegations are meeting this Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.
On Saturday in Munich, the President of the European Council, António Costa, reiterated that peace in Ukraine and the security of Europe could not be separated and that “there will be no credible and successful negotiations, no lasting peace without Ukraine and without the European Union”.
Strengthening military support for Ukraine. Furthermore, according to AFP, citing diplomats, EU Member States will be looking in the next few days in Brussels to rapidly increase their military aid to Ukraine, although no amount is mentioned. “The EU will provide additional military aid to Ukraine as soon as possible in 2025”, reads a document to be discussed this week by the Member States’ ambassadors and seen by AFP.
The Member States would also like to commit to a “minimum” quantity of 1.5 million artillery shells, high-precision missiles, UAVs and air defence systems by 2025, according to the document. In March 2023, the Europeans undertook to supply Ukraine with one million rounds of ammunition within 12 months. It took them 20 months to achieve their goal (see EUROPE 13527/1).
Member States will also continue their discussions on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, with the aim of reaching an agreement by the third anniversary of the invasion on 24 February, the day of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)