PARIS, France — European leaders have called an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday after the Trump administration has cut Europe out of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
The growing chasm between the U.S. and Europe on security issues and the Ukraine war became crystal clear at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, says Elie Tenenbaum, a security expert at the French Institute for International Relations.
"Their worst nightmare has come true," he says, speaking of European leaders. "They see that the Trump administration is going to bypass them and try to strong-arm Ukraine in negotiating a deal with Russia to end the war."
Tenenbaum says European leaders had seen positive signals and been hopeful that the U.S. and Europe could work together under the Trump administration.
But comments this week by several officials — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Brussels, Vice President JD Vance and special Russia-Ukraine envoy General Keith Kellogg in Munich, and by President Trump himself — have poured cold water on any such hopes.
"The Europeans now realize they are standing alone," he says.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded in Munich for Europe to join Ukraine in building a European fighting force. "So that Europe's future depends only on Europeans, and decisions about Europe are made in Europe," he said, to resounding applause.
"Zelenskyy is saying this is our moment, where we either stand up and fight or we give up and let the Russians and the Americans draw the lines," says Tenenbaum.
Monday's meeting, which is hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, will be joined by the leaders of Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote an op-ed in The Daily Telegraph stating that the U.K. is ready to commit sending troops to Ukraine.
Tenenbaum says Europeans will have to fight for a place at the negotiating table. "To be enough of a troublemaker that the US and Russia realize the process may derail if they're kept out of the room," he says.
The military security expert says he'll be looking to see if the Europeans are willing to take some risks and be bold enough to buy themselves a seat at the table.
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