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“Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations,” a joint statement by foreign ministers of European nations asserted on Thursday. The remark came shortly after United States President Donald Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations for peace in Ukraine.
Trump held separate phone calls with Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. Significantly, Trump made the announcement just hours after his Defence Secretary Peter Hegseth outlined the US view on ending the war. Hegseth has said it was an “unrealistic” objective for Ukraine to restore its borders as they were before 2014. He also suggested that Ukraine abandon its bid for NATO membership, a view differing from other Western allies.
Trump, on his part, doubled down on Hegseth’s statement saying that he was “okay” with Ukraine not having NATO membership. “I don’t think it is practical to have it, personally,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I think long before President Putin, they (Russia) said there’s no way they would allow that. They have been saying that for a long time that Ukraine cannot go into NATO… And I am okay with that,” Trump said.
Trump and Hegseth’s statements have alarm bells ringing in Europe. Ministers from France, Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and the European Commission met with Ukraine’s foreign minister in Paris on Wednesday. The pre-scheduled meeting was sidelined by the remarks made by the US.
In a joint statement, the ministers said they were willing to work with American allies to secure peace, which should “guarantee” the “interest of Ukraine and our own”.
“We share the goal to keep supporting Ukraine until a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is reached. A peace that guarantees the interest of Ukraine and our own. We are looking forward to discussing the way ahead together with our American allies. Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength,” the statement read.
Several countries have reacted strongly to Hegseth’s statements. Addressing the media later, UK defence secretary John Healey said that “Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.” German defence minister Boris Pistorius said it “would have been better if the US had not given concessions to Russia before the negotiations even started.”
Trump dialled the Ukrainian President after his phone call with Putin. In another post on Truth Social, Trump said that Zelenskyy “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”
In a social media post, Zelenskyy said “I appreciate his (Trump’s) genuine interest in our shared opportunities and how we can bring about real peace together.”
“We believe that America’s strength, together with Ukraine and all our partners, is enough to push Russia to peace,” he added.
However, Trump was non-committal on the extent of Ukraine’s involvement in the peace negotiations between Putin and the US. When asked if Ukraine would be an equal member of the peace process, Trump said, “That’s an interesting question. I think they have to make peace. People are being killed.”
Trump and Putin have committed to visiting each other countries soon. When asked about a possible visit to Ukraine, Trump said he had not committed to anything as of now.
In clear indications of the US’s waning interest in funding Ukraine’s defence, Hegseth told the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that “stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.”
He said that the US was focused on securing its own borders and deterring a war with China. Hegseth said that “European allies must lead from the front.”
He added that while the US remains committed to the NATO alliance, it “will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency.”
In his press briefing, Trump, too, alluded to his imbalance. “We are putting in far more money than Europe, and Europe is in far more danger than we are. We have an ocean in between. Europe has nothing in between. You know what they have in between–they have Ukraine in between. So, Europe is putting up money and they (Ukraine) are getting it in the form of a loan. And the US under (former President) Biden didn’t do loans. They just handed money every time someone walked in from Ukraine,” Trump said.
Kyiv, meanwhile, has offered to strike a deal with Trump for continued American military aid in exchange for access to rare earth elements key for several technologies.
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