On the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European leaders travelled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and to declare their support for Ukraine, including a new military package as continued U.S. assistance remains uncertain. Across the Atlantic, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Donald Trump as the Europeans rush to Washington at a moment of extreme geopolitical uncertainty since the U.S. President moved to exclude EU leaders as he looks to end the war quickly by dealing directly with Russia’s Putin. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will follow Macron on February 27.
Macron is capitalizing on the good interpersonal relationship he has developed with Trump over the years to advocate for Europe and NATO and to reach transatlantic consensus on Ukraine. At a joint press conference with Trump on February 24, Macron said, “this peace cannot mean the surrender of Ukraine” and must be backed by security guarantees. “We want peace swiftly, but we don’t want an agreement that is weak,” he stressed.
The French and the British are ready to provide security guarantees for Ukraine and are calling for an indispensable U.S. backstop to deter Russia from attacking its neighbor again. “The fact that there are Europeans that are ready to engage to provide for these security guarantees and now there’s a clear American message that the U.S. as an ally is ready to provide that solidarity for that approach. That’s a turning point in my view, and that is one of the great areas of progress that we’ve made during this trip and during this discussion when it comes to troops in the past, a year ago specifically,” Macron said.
Responding to a question on the fact that Macron was one of the last Western leaders to speak to Putin before Ukraine’s invasion, the French president acknowledged “there is a good reason for President Trump to re-engage with President Putin” about ending the war but stressed that there must be strong U.S. deterrence capacities so that a deal would be respected.
At one extraordinary moment during the televised press conference, Macron interrupted Trump by gently putting his hand on the U.S. President’s arm to try to correct him on the nature of European assistance to Ukraine. “Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’ll get their money back,” Trump claimed. “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60 percent of the total effort,” Macron interjected. “It was through, like the U.S., loans, guarantees, grants. We provided real money, to be clear.”
Trump said he was hopeful that Russia’s war in Ukraine was nearing an endgame, adding that the “cost and burden of security must be borne by Europe and not the United States alone.”
The U.S. President also said the U.S. and Ukraine are “very close” to reaching an agreement on rare earth minerals, including those used to make batteries for electric vehicles, that would allow the U.S. to recoup the billions in aid it has provided Kyiv. “It looks like we’re getting very close,” he told reporters in the Oval Office (C-SPAN), adding that Zelensky could potentially come to Washington D.C. to sign the agreement. Not a word was uttered about utilization of the vast supply of frozen Russian financial assets to cover Ukraine’s war expenditures, or for repayments.
On February 26, Trump confirmed Zelensky would be at the White House on February 28 to sign the critical minerals deal but suggested the U.S. would not be making far-reaching security guarantees. “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said. “We’re going to have Europe do that. Europe is their next-door,” he said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also expected to hold a crucial meeting in Washington with the U.S. President on February 27. Starmer is walking a diplomatic tightrope as he tries to retain good relations with Trump while making clear the UK and Europe’s red lines on any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
In a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 22, Starmer insisted that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations on a peace deal with Russia and safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty was essential to deter future aggression from Moscow. Downing Street made clear that the Prime Minister would carry the same tough messages into his meeting with Trump in the White House, the Guardian reported.
Signalling to Trump that Britain can boost Europe’s security, the UK Prime Minister announced on February 25 the biggest increase in annual defense spending since the Cold War. Starmer set out that his commitment to increase spending on defense to 2.5 percent of GDP from April 2027. He has also set an ambition to spend 3 percent of GDP on defence in the next parliament, as economic and fiscal conditions allow, in order to keep the British people safe and secure for generations to come.
The UK Premier is also expected to extend an invitation to Trump from King Charles for a second state visit to the UK.
Year 3 of Russia’s invasion divides U.S. from EU, NATO stance
At Germany’s February 23 parliamentary elections, the clear winner was the conservative alliance CDU/CSU whose leader Friedrich Merz is now in line to be the next German chancellor. Merz reportedly put the Trump administration on a par with Russia and said Europe needs to quickly boost its own defences. “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” Merz said.
As the world marked the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Macron met Trump in Washington DC, the UN Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution appealing for a swift end to the conflict and urging a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine but which contained no criticism of Russia. But the U.S. opposed a tougher European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa travelled to Kyiv on February 24 to mark the hapless anniversary and hold talks with Zelensky. The Commission President said in a statement Europe’s priority remains to empower Ukraine’s resistance. “So far, our Union and Member States have supported Ukraine to the tune of €134 billion. That is more than anybody else,” she said. “Thanks to our Ukraine Facility and the G7 loan, we have closed Ukraine’s budgetary gap for the entire year 2025. In parallel, we must speed up the immediate delivery of weapons and ammunition. And this will be at the heart of our work in the coming weeks,” she added.
She noted that Ukraine’s highly innovative and thriving defence industry could also benefit Europe. “This should never fuel the arsenals of an aggressive power but strengthen the resilience of a European Union that is taking on more responsibility for its own security. Ukraine has a lively start-up scene with a lot of expertise in rising sectors like AI and drones. The can-do attitude and entrepreneurial spirit of young and dynamic Ukrainian companies can provide important impulses to Europe’s competitiveness,” she said.
The Commission President announced a new €3.5 billion payment for Ukraine will arrive already in March. “And as (European Council) President (António) Costa just said, there is a special European Council (scheduled for March 6). I will present a comprehensive plan on how to scale up our European arms production and defence capabilities. And Ukraine will also benefit,” von der Leyen said, adding that Europe will continue training and equipping Ukraine’s troops.
Turning to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure targeted by Russia, von der Leyen said the EU has prepared an ambitious package on energy security and plans to increase the resilience of Ukraine’s energy supply. “The aim is to ensure a resilient, secure and competitive energy system for Ukraine. We will fully integrate Ukraine’s and Moldova’s electricity market with our electricity market by the end next year. And we will seize the full potential of Ukraine’s vast gas storages, of which 80 percent are located close to EU Member States,” she said, arguing that this will accelerate investments in Ukraine’s renewable energy and result in greater energy security for both – Ukraine and the EU.
Both the UK and EU adopted new sanctions packages for Russia on February 24; for the EU this marked its 16th sanctions package. The latest UK package added 100 new targets across East and Central Asia and included senior military officials from North Korea. The U.S. was conspicuously absent from the process, a major change compared to the Biden administration’s major focus on coordination with allies.
The post EU leaders in Kyiv back Ukraine, but Trump won’t blame Russia appeared first on NE Global Media.