We must ‘get real' about Trump abandoning Ukraine, Europe admits

Yahoo

a day ago

British and French officials drawing up plans for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine have discussed the need to 'get real' about Donald Trump abandoning the country.
Officials agreed to shift the focus from deploying European troops to back up any ceasefire to sustaining Kyiv's long-term defence against Russia's invasion without American support.
There is now a genuine concern that the US president will follow through on his threat to walk away from his role as a mediator, having failed to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
'Let's get real and admit the US will never be on board,' a Western official told the Telegraph, describing the dire mood at the meeting in the Hague.
A European diplomat added: 'It was mostly about how to sustain the necessary support to Ukraine when we assume that the US would only continue providing some specific assets, such as intelligence.
'We also agreed on the need to step up economic pressure on Russia.'
The meeting in the Dutch capital, attended by 'political directors' from foreign ministries, marked a stark change in roles of the 'coalition of the willing' devised by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron to uphold a possible ceasefire being pursued by the Americans.
Sir Keir and Mr Macron have been pushing the 'coalition of the willing' proposal under which European allies would use their soldiers to help enforce any peace deal.
More than 30 nations have indicated support, although only a handful have publicly offered to put troops on the ground in Ukraine.
A central question had been whether Washington is willing to provide what has been described by UK figures as a 'security guarantee' or a 'back-up' for this force.
The group still hasn't publicly conceded that its intentions have changed, with the chances of peace dwindling the longer Putin holds out against international pressure for a truce.
The European nations also agreed to invite Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, to the Nato summit in The Hague next month.
His attendance had previously been in doubt after Mr Trump's vocal opposition to Ukraine joining the Western military alliance.
General Keith Kellogg, Mr Trump's Ukraine envoy, said on Friday: 'We've said that, to us, Ukraine coming into Nato is not on the table.
'And we're not the only country that says that. You know, I can probably give you four countries in Nato, and it takes 32 of the 32 to allow you to come into Nato.'
It is likely the coalition will continue to support the Trump peace efforts in public at the request of Ukrainian officials, who fear not doing so will result in the US leader ending weapons shipments and intelligence sharing.
Although Washington has not signed off on deliveries of new weapons since Mr Trump took office, it continues to ship hardware agreed under Joe Biden's tenure.
The US has also signed off on sales of domestically-produced kit, such as spares for F-16 fighter jets, to Ukraine, as well as allowing European nations to deliver American-made equipment.
The meeting in the Dutch capital comes ahead of a key week of diplomacy.
On Monday, Britain's national security adviser is expected to attend the next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul.
Gen Kellogg told ABC News: 'We'll have what we call the E3. That is the national security advisers from Germany, France, and Great Britain…When we were in London, they kind of helped us mould a term sheet for Ukraine.'
Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct negotiations in more than three years in the Turkish capital earlier this month.
On Friday, the Kremlin said it would only discuss the conditions of a ceasefire at the talks in Istanbul after Kyiv demanded to see a peace memorandum prior to negotiations.
Ukraine said it wanted to see a document setting out Russia's peace proposal before committing to sending officials to Istanbul.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, said: 'In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions.'
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, announced the second round of talks earlier this week after Donald Trump further criticised Vladimir Putin.
The US president had called his Russian counterpart 'crazy' and accused him of 'playing with fire' before appearing to give him a two-week deadline to secure a deal.
Next week, Britain and Germany will also host a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group of 50 nations coordinating military aid to Ukraine.
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