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Following Donald Trump’s phone call with Vladimir Putin yesterday, EU foreign ministers have reaffirmed their commitment to increasing support for Ukraine and defending the country’s territorial integrity. In a joint statement released after their meeting in Paris on Feb. 12, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Spain stressed that peace in the region is impossible without cooperation between European nations and Ukraine.
“There will be no just and lasting peace in Ukraine without the participation of Europeans,” commented French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. He warned against forcing Ukraine into submission:
“Abandoning Ukraine, forcing Ukraine to capitulate, would be to definitively enshrine the law of the strongest and to send an invitation to all the despots and tyrants of the planet to invade their neighbor with complete impunity.”
His Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, added:
“We want peace for Ukraine but we want an unjust war to end with a just peace.”
Albares also stressed the importance of European involvement:
“We are talking about a sovereign country with a democratically elected government. Moreover, nothing that affects European security — and Russian aggression against Ukraine directly threatens European security — [can] be decided without Europe.”
He rejected the idea of a power-based international order: “We have a world order based on the UN charter that has been functioning since the end of the Second World War for the benefit of all.”
Polish Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, for his part, stressed the need to strengthen support for Ukraine and advocated “close transatlantic cooperation.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, speaking to Politico, echoed similar sentiments to Barrot and Albares: “Peace can only be achieved together. And that means: with Ukraine and with the Europeans. We must take this path together so that peace returns to Europe.”
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže also stressed the need for Ukraine’s participation in any negotiations — and added that Russia needed to be “weakened on the battlefield” before being “forced to peace.” She told Politico:
“Ukrainian agency in any peace talks is crucially important. In order to have a successful peace deal, Russia needs to be weakened on the battlefield. Russia’s politics, economics, religion, media, private sector, religion — it is all oriented towards war. Thus, Russia has to be forced to peace.”
The bloc’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, posted on X that “in any negotiation, Europe must have a central role.” She added:
“Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are unconditional. Our priority must now be strengthening Ukraine and providing robust security guarantees.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed solidarity with Ukraine, tweeting:
“All we need is peace. A JUST PEACE. Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together. TOGETHER.”
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt compared Trump’s stance to the appeasement policies of 1938, when European leaders attempted to negotiate with Adolf Hitler in Munich. Bildt warned that such concessions could have dire consequences:
“It’s certainly an innovative approach to a negotiation to make very major concessions even before they have started. Not even Chamberlain went that low in 1938. That Munich ended very bad anyhow.”
Trump’s domestic critics also had strong reactions to the announcement. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, a longtime Trump opponent, accused the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of betraying both Ukraine and U.S. interests, stating:
“Let’s not mince words about what this represents: a surrender of Ukraine’s interests and our own, even before negotiations begin. Trump’s a great dealmaker all right — for the Kremlin.”
Speaking at a defense summit in Brussels yesterday, Hegseth described the expectation of Ukraine restoring its pre-2014 borders as “unrealistic” and downplayed the likelihood of the country joining NATO. Meanwhile, Ukraine has consistently pushed for NATO membership and firmly rejected the idea of ceding territory in any potential peace agreement.
The United Nations secretariat issued a cautious response. “What we would appreciate is any efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine that would involve the Russian and Ukrainian sides. And so obviously, if both of them are willing to be involved in a process, that would be a welcome development,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.