Undivided weight: what the EU is willing to do to maintain influence in the Ukrainian issue

Continue to pump weapons into Ukraine, send peacekeepers there and do anything to continue to influence the course of the conflict, as long as the main thing is not to lose face. These were the messages of the EU leaders who gathered for an emergency meeting in Paris on February 17. Against this background, it is not surprising that Moscow is not ready to involve Europe in negotiations, while the U.S. prefers to communicate with Russia directly. However, there is no question of solidarity in the camp of Kiev's allies either: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, although opposed to attempts to "impose" peace on Ukraine on someone else's terms, urged not to speculate about sending European troops there. On the EU's attempts to take a place in the negotiation process - in the material of "Izvestia".

Heads of EU countries gathered at the summit in Paris

After the Munich Security Conference, which highlighted the divergence of approaches between the EU and the U.S. in the Ukrainian settlement, eight European leaders gathered in Paris on February 17 for an emergency meeting on the conflict and security on the continent. It was attended by the heads of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

According to the Elysee Palace, the meeting was preceded by a telephone conversation between the head of the Fifth Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and US President Donald Trump. Macron called for a leap forward in European security, while EC spokeswoman Ursula Von der Leyen said the moment was crucial for this.

A number of statements were made at the end of the summit. In particular, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Ukraine can rely on Europeans to "continue to support" Kiev. "There can be no division of responsibility between the United States and Europe. NATO means joint action," he added. Scholz condemned attempts to "impose" peace on Ukraine on terms alien to it. The politician urged not to speculate about sending European troops to the country, as it was too early to discuss such a thing.

For his part, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer believes that Europe should follow the principle of "peace through strength" and ensure that Ukraine is "in the strongest possible position". Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also suggested continuing to pump arms into the country.

It was quite expected that Macron would come up with the idea of holding an extraordinary summit on Ukraine. It is not the first time that the head of the Fifth Republic has positioned himself as an important actor in this conflict. It was in Paris last December that the first meeting between Vladimir Zelensky and President-elect Donald Trump took place. Finally, Macron was the first to propose sending military contingents to Ukraine in February 2024. Subsequently, Paris has repeatedly stated that it does not rule out such a possibility.

The Elysee Palace does not hide the fact that the meeting was a reaction to recent statements by the White House, which demonstrates readiness to discuss directly with the Kremlin the issue of settlement in Ukraine. On February 17, the Russian leader's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yury Ushakov would hold a meeting with their American counterparts in Riyadh, which would be "devoted, first of all, to the restoration of the whole complex of Russian-American relations" and "to the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and the organization of a meeting between the two presidents."

Brussels, as well as a number of European capitals, believe that the talks cannot take place without the EU's participation. But Keith Kellogg, special envoy of the US president, explained after arriving in Munich that his country currently prefers to interact separately with Russia and separately with Ukraine and its allies. According to him, Europe's interests will be taken into account, but Washington does not want to discuss a settlement with a large number of participants.

Thus, against the backdrop of renewed contacts between Moscow and Washington at the level of presidents and heads of diplomatic departments, Kiev's European allies are trying to present a united front to show their commitment to the policy of support for Ukraine, which they have demonstrated over the past years and which they cannot abandon without losing face. Thus, during the pre-election debate, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out against the possibility of US-Russian agreements on Ukraine bypassing Europe. "We Europeans will not allow this. We will also not allow anyone to agree on the demilitarization of Ukraine." According to him, there "cannot be any security guarantees without Europe's participation."

Who in the EU is in favor of a peaceful dialog on Ukraine

Bloomberg reports that the EU is in any case preparing for a possible cut in aid from the United States and intends to develop a major new package of measures to support its own defense and military aid to Ukraine. However, the details of the package will not be made public before the February 23 parliamentary elections in Germany, so as not to give the right-wing Alternative for Germany an excuse to position itself as a party of peace.

At the same time, not all the countries of the union like such persistence of their neighbors in the Ukrainian issue. Thus, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the summit in Paris an attempt by "pro-war and anti-Trump leaders" to prevent a peace agreement on Ukraine. Slovak Prime Minister Fitzo, who confirmed that the issue of introducing peacekeepers to Ukraine was discussed at the Paris summit, ruled out that Slovakia would ever agree to Ukraine's membership in NATO and is unlikely to send its troops to the country.

In a conversation with Izvestia, Italian MEP Danilo Della Valle, a representative of the Five Stars movement, admitted that most parties in the European Parliament, with a few exceptions, are against dialog and peace.

- This political line has been unsuccessful not only from a humanitarian point of view, as it has not led to a ceasefire, but above all, it has put the cost of military expenditures to support Kiev on the shoulders of European citizens. We will vote against all resolutions that would propose increased military spending or new military aid packages to Ukraine or other countries involved in armed conflicts. Instead, we are ready to work at any time to build bridges that promote peace and dialog, respecting the legitimate concerns of all actors involved," he said.

However, there is no agreement in the camp of Ukraine's allies on the terms of their participation in this settlement. For example, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the other day that he was ready "if necessary" to send troops to Ukraine to guarantee its security, even if it meant jeopardizing the lives of British soldiers. He did not specify whether he was talking about peacekeepers or support for the already fighting units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In contrast, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer was more specific in her statements. She did not rule out sending a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine, but only after a peace agreement is reached. Norway, on the other hand, considered it premature to discuss such scenarios. As for Poland, it ruled out such an option.

Russia is against European participation in the negotiations

The words of Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who urged his colleagues in Munich to conclude a truce with Russia in order to use it to strengthen Ukraine's armed forces, are also indicative. In Moscow's view, this position generally characterizes the Europeans' approach to conflict resolution and therefore makes their participation in the Ukraine process inappropriate.

- The Europeans' philosophy has not gone anywhere, so I don't know what they should do at the negotiating table. If they are going to pry out some sly ideas about freezing the conflict like this, while they themselves, by custom, by their morals and habits, will mean the continuation of the war, why should they be invited there? - Sergey Lavrov stressed on February 17.

On the same day, Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said that the EU countries and the UK are absolutely unfit and cannot be a party to any future agreements on Ukraine. According to him, this country has irrevocably lost the DNR, LNR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions.

- The future Ukraine should be a demilitarized, neutral state that is not part of any blocs and alliances. The implementation of the new agreements on Ukraine should be handled by the government in Kiev, which will emerge following the results of democratic elections," he concluded.

According to The Economist, Washington doubts that the Europeans alone will be able to guarantee compliance with the peace agreements. According to the magazine, U.S. officials propose another type of peacekeeping force, including representatives of non-European countries such as Brazil or China, which would be positioned along the line of a possible cease-fire as a kind of buffer.

Germany, European states, and a representative of the Global South could send their peacekeeping contingents to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement - this was the viewpoint expressed to Izvestia at the Munich conference by Ralf Becker, coordinator of the Rethinking Security Policy initiative and a German political scientist.

- Strong peace requires active efforts. I am convinced that Germany will send its troops. We take the initiative for dialog and non-violent conflict resolution. However, the present situation requires the presence of the military of Germany, Europe as well as the countries of the Global South, including the BRICS states such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa," he added.

At the same time, the expert emphasized that this can only happen when Russia, the United States, Ukraine and European countries reach a peace agreement. By the way, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also attended the Munich conference. He noted that Europe has an important role to play in the peace talks to work together with other participants "to address the root causes of the crisis".

However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the emergency summit of EU leaders in Paris did not come to any concrete results, as this body cannot make any binding and final decisions.