Fast-moving Ukraine diplomacy means Europeans must do more, official says

PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) – The acceleration in Ukraine diplomacy means Europe needs to do more and in a better way, a French presidency official said ahead of informal talks later on Monday among several key European leaders in Paris.

U.S. President Donald Trump stunned European allies in NATO and Ukraine last week when he announced he had held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them and would start a peace process.

Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg jolted Europe further on Saturday when he said it would not have a seat at the table for the peace talks, even after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.

In the same six-point questionnaire, seen by Reuters on Sunday, the U.S. asked European allies in NATO what they would need from Washington to participate in Ukraine security arrangements.

“We believe that, as a result of the acceleration on the Ukrainian issue, and also as a result of what American leaders are saying, there is a need for Europeans to do more, better and in a coherent manner for our collective security,” the official told reporters.

Dozens of similar summits have shown the 27-nation EU to be dithering, disunited and struggling to come up with a cohesive plan to end the Ukraine war on its doorstep, and to deal with Russia, three years into Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.

Leaders from Germany, Italy, Britain, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, which will represent Baltic and Scandinavian countries, were due to attend, along with the European Union leadership and the NATO Secretary General.

“These initiatives are an opportunity in the sense that they can help speed up the end of the war in Ukraine, but obviously we still need to agree and see under what conditions the end of the war can be achieved,” the official said.

The discussion, he said, would look at “the security guarantees that can be given by the Europeans and the Americans, together or separately.”

Some countries were unhappy that the meeting was only for selected leaders and is not a full EU summit, EU officials said.

The French presidency official said the meeting would facilitate future discussions in Brussels and at NATO.

“Everybody should be able to take part in the conversation,” he said.