“There is a possibility that the United States will betray Ukraine on the territorial issue, without clarity on security guarantees,” the French president lamented this Monday. Emmanuel Macron during a confidential telematic conference held by the German Chancellor Friedrich Merzthe Ukrainian president Volodímir Zelenski and other continental leaders. “They are playing, both with you and with us,” Merz replied, according to the transcript of the dialogue to which the weekly had access. The mirror.
The Christian Democrat leader was referring to the special envoy of Donald Trump, Steve Witkoffand to the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushnerin charge of negotiating hand to hand with the Russian president Vladimir Putin a peace agreement for Ukraine.
“We should not leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb, one of the few European leaders who maintain a good relationship with Trump thanks to their shared passion for golf, commented at one point. Even the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Ruttewho has come to refer to Trump as “daddy,” agreed with Stubb’s impressions: “I agree with Alexander, we must protect Volodymir.”
The impressions that European leaders share privately have nothing to do with their public statements, in which they celebrate the involvement of the Trump Administration in the negotiations. Although it is true that Stubb himself acknowledged this Wednesday in an interview with the network MTV News that it was “unlikely that all the conditions for a just peace that we have talked so much about over the past four years will be met.”
They also participated in last Monday’s conversation, always according to The mirrorPolish Prime Minister Donald Tuskthe president of the Italian Government Giorgia Melonithe Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksenthe head of the Norwegian Government Jonas Gahr Størethe president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenand the president of the Council, Antonio Costa.
One day after the telematic conference, the content of which had not been revealed until this Thursday, Witkoff and Kushner landed in Moscow to convey Trump’s peace proposal to Putin.
It was the sixth visit by Trump’s special envoy, a New York real estate investor with no previous diplomatic experience who is now tasked with finding a negotiated solution to the war. But the five-hour meeting in the Kremlin did not result in any kind of progress, even though the parties claimed to have maintained a “productive” dialogue.
Before receiving Trump’s emissaries in the Kremlin, whom he kept entertained by walking around the center of Moscow with one of his main assistants, Kirill DmitrievPutin accused European leaders of being “on the side of the war” and of sabotaging their agreements with Trump with proposals “absolutely unacceptable” to the Kremlin’s interests.
The Russian president also threatened to mount a forceful military response if Europe decided to start a conflict. “We are prepared,” he declared, in a defiant tone.
European leaders have avoided commenting on the exclusive The mirrorwith the only exception of the Elysée, which maintains that Macron “did not express himself in those terms” during the confidential conference last Monday.
The French president, who received Zelensky in Paris this Monday, then highlighted Washington’s role at the negotiating table. “There is American mediation, it is a very good thing, it will now put pressure on Russia,” he declared.
However, the absence of Marco Rubio A key meeting of NATO foreign ministers held this Wednesday in Brussels highlighted the chill of transatlantic relations. It was the first time in twenty-two years—since the invasion of Iraq, to be exact—that the United States Secretary of State did not attend an appointment of this nature.