Ukraine: Scholz calls for US-European unity at Paris summit

French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after meeting with European leaders in Paris on Monday.

"We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians," he wrote on X.

European leaders will work on this together with all Europeans, Americans and Ukrainians, the French president said. 

"We are convinced that Europeans must invest better, more, and together in their security and defense—both for today and for the future," he said.

Macron added that Europeans want to accelerate the implementation of their own agenda for sovereignty, security, and competitiveness. 

"Work will continue based on the European Commission’s proposals, both in supporting Ukraine and in developing and investing in our defense," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser, arrived in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for Russian-US talks.

Upon arrival, Ushakov said that talks on Ukraine would be strictly bilateral, Russia's state-run RIA news agency reported.

"We came to negotiate with American colleagues," RIA quoted Ushakov as saying. "These are bilateral talks, purely bilateral. There can be no trilateral talks in Riyadh."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had discussed security guarantees and achieving a lasting peace in Ukraine with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We share a common vision: security guarantees must be robust and reliable," he wrote on X.

"Any other decision without such guarantees — such as a fragile ceasefire — would only serve as another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations," Zelenskyy added.

The Ukrainian president also said that Macron briefed him on his talks with other leaders, not just European ones.

Macron called the meeting of key European leaders after US President Donald Trump arranged bilateral peace talks with Russia, excluding European allies and Ukraine from the negotiations, which are scheduled to begin in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters outside the Paris Ukraine summit on Monday that the future of Ukraine was an "existential" issue for Europe.

However, Starmer added that European support can only succeed with US security guarantees.

He also added to comments made earlier Monday that he would be open to sending UK troops on a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

"Europe must play its role, and I'm prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement," Starmer said.

"But there must be a US backstop backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again," he added.

The Trump administration has called on Europeans to bear more weight on supporting a post-war Ukraine, and has made it clear that Europe needs to stop relying on the US for its defense. 

Starmer is due to meet with the US president next week in Washington. 

Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, US Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg said he expects any peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to take place with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the table, with US President Donald Trump as mediator.

Kellogg added that nobody would impose a deal "on an elected leader of a sovereign nation."

However, Kellogg noted that Ukraine's European allies, who have been pushing for a seat at the negotiating table, would likely be excluded from direct talks, albeit "all their concerns will be known and addressed."

"I don't think it's reasonable and feasible to have everybody sitting at the table. We know how that can turn out and that has been our point, is keeping it clean and fast as we can," he said.

European leaders were taken aback last week when Trump and Putin held a phone call,  without consulting Ukraine or Europe, with the US president subsequently saying that peace talks would start "immediately."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said European leaders on Monday discussed how Europe and Germany can strengthen their own security and defense capabilities, including by ensuring long-term defense financing.

"For the future of Europe it will be very important that we do everything possible to ensure" that countries can meet the NATO defense spending target of at least 2% of GDP, Scholz told reporters after the summit in Paris.

"I am convinced that there is a pathway towards a long-term and durable commitment" for financing defense expenditures in Europe, even beyond what is already committed under NATO, he said.

Scholz said that financing further support for Ukraine, along with increasing overall national defense spending, by cutting public budgets was "sure to fail" and would quickly lose public support.

Increasing overall defense spending would then depend on creating more room in budgets by loosening rules on public debt. He said common European finance and supplementary budget marigins were under discussion. 

Scholz said now was a "decisive moment" in Germany and Europe. "We need … an open and clear debate about our security challenges" along with clearly communicating how the costs are to be financed.

As the Ukraine summit wrapped up in Paris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters that Europe and the US must stick together on security issues.

"There must be no division of security and responsibility between Europe and the United States," Scholz said in Paris.

"NATO is based on us always acting together and sharing the risk, thereby guaranteeing our security. This must not be called into question."

The German chancellor emphasized Ukraine could continue to count on European support.

"We welcome that there are talks aimed at creating peace, but it is clear to us that this doesn't mean there can be a dictated peace, and that Ukraine must accept" whatever it is presented with, he said.

Scholz said European leaders were in agreement that Ukraine must have a pathway toward EU membership, and be able to defend it's sovereignty and democracy with European support. 

Peacekeeping debate 'highly inappropriate' 

On the question of dispatching peacekeeping troops, which had been brought up earlier in the day by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scholz said having that debate right now was "completely premature" and "highly inappropriate" while the war is ongoing.

"The discussion is being held over Ukraine's heads, over the outcome of peace talks that have not taken place and to which Ukraine has not said yes and where it has not sat at the table," he added. 

European leaders began to arrive Monday afternoon at Elysee Palace in Paris for an emergency summit on coordinating a response to a change of tone from the US during last week's Munich Security Conference, with growing concern that Washington and Moscow will cut a bilateral deal to end the  war  while leaving Kyiv and European allies on the sidelines. 

The French presidency said  ahead of the summit that host Emmanuel Macron spoke with US President Donald Trump earlier Monday, without sharing details of the conversation. 

Marcon greeted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Elysee Palace. Scholz had called for "European unity" ahead of the summit.

"This will be a great task for Europe, for the US and international alliance partners," Scholz said.

On whether European countries could contribute ground troops on a peacekeeping mission, a German Defense Ministry spokesperson said:  "If the framework is given, Germany will not shy away."

UK PM Keir Starmer arrived at Elysee after making headlines earlier Monday for suggesting the UK would be willing to contribute troops to a Ukraine peacekeeping mission.

"I think there's a bigger piece here as well, which is that this isn't just about the front line in Ukraine. It's the front line of Europe and of the United Kingdom. It's about our national security and I think that we need to do more." Starmer said earlier on Monday. 

Starmer is due to meet with Trump in Washington next week, his office confirmed on Monday. 

The EU is expected to send a strong message of support for Ukraine as the US has said it expects Europe to contribute more to aiding Kyiv. 

Ahead of the summit, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X that European security was "at a turning point."

"Yes, it is about Ukraine - but it is also about us. We need an urgency mindset. We need a surge in defense. And we need both of them now."

NATO chief Mark Rutte from the Netherlands, told reporters over the weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that Europe would need to come up with "good proposals" for peace if it wants a place at the negotiating table. 

"If Europeans want to have a say, make yourself relevant," Rutte said. 

Ahead of an emergency summit on Ukraine and European security in Paris, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters that any negotiation ending the war should not reward Russian aggression. 

"A war of aggression cannot be rewarded, we cannot encourage others to launch wars of aggression," Albares also said in an interview with radio station Onda Cero.

"Today I'm convinced Putin will keep attacking and bombing Ukraine. I do not see peace on the horizon at the moment," he added. 

Responding to earlier comments by UK PM Keir Starmer on peacekeepers, Albares said it was "too early at this time to speak about deploying troops to Ukraine as there is no peace at the moment." 

Talks between a US and Russian delegation are planned for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, the first between senior officials from both countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Besides discussing potential offramps for ending the Ukraine war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the talks would be "primarily devoted to restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations."

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Monday that the talks were a step toward seeing if Russia was serious about peace talks coming after a phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"This is a follow-up on that initial conversation between Putin and Trump about perhaps if that first step is even possible, what the interests are, if this can be managed," Bruce said.

She added that although a Ukrainian delegation would not be present on Tuesday, actual peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine's involvement. 

The US delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Ukraine has bristled at not being invited to attend the talks, as Trump's unilateral outreach to Putin has caused concern among European allies that they are being left out of peace talks after supporting Ukraine's defense after almost three years of war.

In response, France has organized an emergency summit on Ukraine and European security. 

Zelenskyy told Ukrainian media that Kyiv "did not know anything about" the talks in Riyadh. He added Ukraine "cannot recognize any things or any agreements about us without us."

Germany's Foreign Ministry on Monday said direct contact between US and Russia "is not a bad thing" if it is "about finding a way to a durable and lasting peace."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will not recognize any agreements made without its participation.

He spoke ahead of a meeting between officials from the United States and Russia regarding Ukraine, adding that Kyiv was not informed of the talks.

Zelenskyy mentioned that the US-Russia talks would "yield no results," given the absence of any Ukrainian officials.

He emphasized that his country "cannot recognize any agreements about us without us, and we will not recognize such agreements."

These talks follow last week's telephone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which Trump said they "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately."

On Sunday, Trump told reporters that Zelenskyy "will be involved," but did not elaborate.

Zelenskyy was scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

He said his visit was arranged prior to the US-Russia talks and was unrelated to them.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for European unity to support Ukraine before a summit in Paris.

"We need this because of Ukraine; we need this for our own security," Scholz said at a campaign event in Kassel.

It echoed a speech he made to the Munich Security Conference on Sunday when he said European support for Ukraine cannot end "when the weapons fall silent." 

Scholz is due to travel to Paris later to attend the emergency Ukraine talks organized by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Separately, German deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said it was "premature" to discuss sending troops to Ukraine as part of any potential peacekeeping force.

"We have repeatedly stated that, first of all, we have to wait and see whether and how peace will hopefully emerge for Ukraine," she told a press briefing in Berlin.

"That there is direct contact between the Americans and the Russians is not a bad thing if it is about finding a way to a durable and lasting peace," she added.

The German military said it would "not shy away" from contributing peacekeeping troops but added it was too soon to discuss Germany's exact contribution.

Earlier, Jürgen Hardt, the foreign policy spokesperson for Germany's opposition CDU/CSU alliance, told the BBC: "If there is a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine to make sure that the ceasefire and peace remains, and there's a clear basis on international law for that … I cannot imagine that Germany would step out of that concept."

The German statements come after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK was "ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary."

Russia has dispatched its top diplomat for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to President Vladimir Putin, will participate in the talks on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

They hope to lay the groundwork for talks to end the war in Ukraine. Peskov said they would also arrange a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump, and discuss "Russian-US relations across the board."

Separately Lavrov was dismissive when asked about a possible role for Europe, saying that, "I don't know what they have to do at the negotiations table."

Rubio has arrived in Riyadh and will be joined at the talks by Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

The US president surprised Ukraine and European allies last week by announcing he had spoken with Putin, without consulting them, to discuss ways to end the war.

Hungary has welcomed planned talks between the United States and Russia over the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused European leaders of being "pro-war."

"Today, in Paris, pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders are gathering to prevent a peace agreement in Ukraine," Peter Szijjarto told a press briefing that was livestreamed on his Facebook page.

French President Emmanuel Macron invited leaders from Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, along with the heads of the European Council, the European Commission, and NATO. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss strategies for ensuring that peace negotiations regarding Ukraine do not inadvertently reward Russian aggression.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was not invited, is one of the few European leaders to remain friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Last year, during Hungary's presidency of the EU Council, he made an unannounced trip to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The trip drew condemnation from Kyiv and other European capitals.

While diplomats discuss peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, the fighting continues.

Russian troops have increased their attacks in eastern Ukraine, according to Kyiv's military. A NATO official also said that Moscow is likely to step up the pace and intensity of its assaults as talks to end the war get closer.