This looks like an historic moment. And not in a good way:
“Next Putin will try to get the US president standing on Red Square on May 9 this year, not as a respected leader, but as a prop in his own performance, we don’t need that,” Zelensky said. https://t.co/0Fb40mFtCf
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 15, 2025
Zelenskyy’s Munich speech and press statements today seem to mark a new turn for him. In the past he has used moral suasion and guilt trips as a cudgel with DC and Brussels, but I’m not aware of him explicitly calling out the US as a definitively unreliable partner for both Kyiv and Europe before.
He seems willing to burn bridges with the US, which suggests those bridges might already have been pulled up in his private talks with Trump & other US officials this week.
In any case, he is clearly putting all his eggs in the Europe basket and suggesting that Europe would be wise to do the same.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, was on Saturday night seeking to convene an emergency meeting of European leaders, including the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, as concerns grew over Donald Trump’s attempts to seize control of the Ukraine peace process.
Speaking at the Munich security conference, Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said he was “very glad that President Macron has called our leaders to Paris” to discuss “in a very serious fashion” the challenges posed by Trump.
“President Trump has a method of operating which the Russians call razvedka boyem – reconnaissance through battle: you push and you see what happens, and then you change your position … and we need to respond,” the Polish minister said.
The meeting, likely to be held on Monday, is expected to discuss US efforts to exclude European leaders from the peace talks, the position Europe should adopt on Ukraine’s future membership of Nato and how Ukraine can be offered security guarantees, either through Nato or some European force.
Downing Street confirmed on Saturday it had heard about the proposed meeting and officials made clear that Starmer would attend and take messages from the meeting to Washington this week, when he will meet President Trump. UK sources said they believed those invited to Paris by Macron would be the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the leaders of Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland.
Starmer said: “This is a once in a generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia. It’s clear Europe must take a greater role in Nato as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia. The UK will work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face.”
Macron’s speed in trying to unite European leaders behind a joint response shows the extent of anxiety in Europe about US efforts both to control the process and exclude European governments from any detailed negotiations between the US and Russia.
Zelensky's speech at the Munich Security Conference ended with prolonged applause! pic.twitter.com/LX02M8TkRL
— MAKS 24 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) February 15, 2025
The Post War world order and our alliances (even including Canada!), are gone. Europe is going to arm up. We are now allied with Russia. This could easily go sideways The way things are going there’s an excellent chance it will.
Here’s Zelensky’s full speech if you haven’t heard it: