The US is warned by Europeans that the Ukraine deal is “behind our backs”

After Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin and declared the beginning of negotiations, European officials rushed for a place at the table on Thursday, warning the United States against signing a peace agreement with Russia for Ukraine behind their backs.

Since any settlement in Ukraine, which was devastated by a full-scale Russian invasion three years ago, will have implications for their own security, U.S. President Trump’s action sent shockwaves through European capitals, which desire a key role in peace talks.

“It is obvious that any agreement made behind our backs will fail. Any solution must include Ukraine and Europe as well,” stated Kaja Kallas, the head of European Union foreign affairs.

Speaking ahead of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting with their Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels, Kallas asked, “Why are we giving them (Russia) everything that they want even before the negotiations have started?”

Ukraine’s return to its pre-2014 borders is unattainable, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also said Wednesday that a peace agreement will not include Kyiv joining NATO. In 2014, Russia captured the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine and annexed it.

Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, also stated that it would have been preferable if Washington had refrained from making what he described as compromises to Moscow prior to the commencement of peace negotiations.

Any agreement without the involvement of Europe and Ukraine would fail, according to Kallas, and Europe would keep supporting Kyiv if it refused to accept an imposed settlement.

According to Kallas, “any quick fix is a dirty deal,”

Sebastien Lecornu, the French defense minister, cautioned against “peace through weakness” instead of the Trump administration’s catchphrase.

“Europe should not fall under the illusion that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin are going to find the solution for all of us,” stated Dovile Sakaliene, Europe’s defense minister.

The “best negotiator on the planet, bringing two sides together to find a negotiated peace” is Trump, Hegseth added, defending the U.S. strategy.

HOPES IN EUROPE

During a series of meetings with officials in Brussels and Munich this week, many European officials had hoped to change the way the United States views the war.

However, it was quickly apparent that the Trump administration was proceeding without them.

Trump claimed to have had a “highly productive phone call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that the two had decided to begin negotiations right away, hours after Hegseth’s speech. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, was then briefed on the call.

Europe must be involved in any future negotiations on Ukraine, according to a late-night declaration made by foreign ministers from European nations, including Britain, France, and Germany, following discussions in Paris on Wednesday.

According to a European diplomatic source, the ministers decided to have a “frank and demanding dialogue” with U.S. officials during the annual Munich Security Conference, which begins this Friday and lasts for three days in the southern German city.

Not all European leaders were alarmed by Trump’s move.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, praised the U.S. president and criticized the ministers’ statement.

“You can’t request a seat at the negotiating table. You have to earn it!” he said on social media.

European leaders say one reason they need to be involved in talks is that Washington has made clear it expects them to provide security guarantees for any peace deal, which could mean European troops being deployed to Ukraine.

“There is no option to not be at the table, because we are very important in the actual implementation of those security guarantees,” said Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans.