French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe will need to develop its own direct channel to engage Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, rather than relying solely on US-led efforts, as Washington pushes forward with peace negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Dec. 19, Macron said Europe and Ukraine must have a clear role in any future talks, warning that sidelining European leaders from direct engagement with Moscow would be counterproductive.
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Macron said “either a lasting peace is reached” in current negotiations, “or we find ways for Europeans to re-engage in a dialogue with Russia – in transparency and association with Ukraine,” according to Bloomberg.
“It will become useful again to speak to Vladimir Putin.”
Macron’s comments came after EU leaders agreed on early Thursday to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan, stepping back from a proposal to confiscate frozen Russian assets.
While financial support signals continued backing for Kyiv, Macron said a broader political question remains unresolved: Europe’s role at the negotiating table.
Macron said the US has increasingly taken the lead in peace diplomacy, but questioned whether Putin is prepared to end the war, given what he described as Russia’s unchanged imperial ambitions.
“We, Europeans and Ukrainians, have an interest in finding the right framework to re-engage in this discussion in a proper manner,” Macron said.
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“Otherwise, we will be discussing among ourselves with negotiators who will then go and discuss with the Russians on their own. That is not ideal.”
Macron was one of the few European leaders engaged in direct talks with Putin soon before Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion, during which Putin reportedly assured him that he would not invade.
US officials confirmed Thursday that a tightly choreographed series of meetings will begin Saturday, as the White House presses for a breakthrough in the war ahead of the invasion’s four-year mark.
At the center of the talks is Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin-linked head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, who is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law and informal power broker, Jared Kushner.
Witkoff is also expected to host Ukrainian officials separately, underscoring Washington’s preferred role as sole intermediary – and reinforcing European fears that decisions about their security are once again being made without them in the room.
It remains unclear whether any of the delegations will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in Miami this weekend as well.
Trump himself will also spend the weekend in Florida and has no plans to return to Washington before January, officials earlier told Kyiv Post, adding another layer of ambiguity about how closely the president will be engaged in the talks.
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