Surprised by the US in bilateral negotiations with Russia, Europe is confused, France affirms the need to protect Ukraine more than ever

The US's continuous moves to promote conflict resolution in Ukraine without European participation have confused countries in the "old continent".

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is facing a major turning point with decisive actions from the US. (Source: Getty)

In the context of information that Russia and the US will negotiate about Ukraine in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) on February 18, recently, NBC TV channel quoted US officials continuing to reveal that the country intends to hold separate bilateral negotiations with Moscow and Kiev, then conduct joint negotiations.

The move came after a nearly one-and-a-half hour phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on February 12, discussing issues related to citizen exchanges between the two countries as well as resolving the Ukraine issue.

Mr Trump later announced plans to meet Mr Putin in Saudi Arabia.

The US’s radical actions to resolve the conflict in Ukraine seem to have no place in Europe. On February 17, the Daily Telegraph reported that the Trump-Putin phone call had left European leaders in a state of “confusion”.

According to the newspaper, European leaders "are trying to understand how Mr. Trump's move will affect the future of Ukraine, its allies and the continent."

Notably, at the Munich Security Conference, which took place from February 14-16 in Germany, the US continued to surprise Europe when Vice President JD Vance did not mention Ukraine even once, nor did he touch on any security and foreign policy issues in his speech.

According to an analysis on the Eurasia Review website, what worries Europe most is President Trump's quick moves towards President Putin and the fear of being left out of negotiations to end the military conflict in Ukraine.

A series of messages from across Europe emphasize that the continent must be at the negotiating table with Ukraine and that no decision can be made without Kiev’s participation. Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that the European Union (EU) must participate in negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and that no one should agree to the demilitarization of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, French Secretary of State Manuel Valls stressed that Europe is at a turning point in its relations with the US and this situation "forces us to support Ukraine's defense, increase defense spending and take the lead more than ever."

Concerned about the risk of being excluded from the negotiation process on peace terms in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron has invited European leaders to attend an extraordinary meeting in Paris this afternoon, February 17 (local time). Mr. Macron said that European countries need to make more efforts and increase coordination in protecting common security.

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