By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-03 12:31:14 | Updated at 2025-03-03 20:38:14
8 hours ago
The extraordinary White House meeting last Friday between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky has provoked much global shock. Yet, it may have – unexpectedly – unlocked for Europe a crucial window of opportunity to become more involved in any settlement deal with Russia.
In February, the Trump administration indicated that it saw a purely bilateral process between Washington and Moscow of trying to end the war. However, the diplomatic bust-up between Trump and Zelensky has helped foster a new Franco-British-led initiative to end the conflict.
This plan, which Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says is proof that Europe has “woken up”, was the centrepiece of discussion at Sunday’s summit in London convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Around a dozen European national leaders attended, plus Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, European Council president Antonio Costa and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
In a statement issued ahead of the summit, Starmer said: “Three years on from Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we are at a turning point.” Yet, much uncertainty remains. Despite the assurances that Trump appeared to have given Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron on their separate visits to the White House late last month, it is not clear how the White House will receive the Franco-British-led initiative.
Discussion at the summit focused on three main points that will be further defined at forthcoming meetings, including Thursday’s EU emergency summit. This is all centred around bolstering Ukraine’s position ahead of any settlement endgame.
