Europe Deserves Seat at Ukraine Peace Talks, Says Polish FM

Europe deserves a place at the negotiating table over peace in Ukraine due to its financial contribution to Kyiv’s defense, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said.

“We are spending real money, whereas the U.S. is actually making money on this war,” Sikorski said, referring to Europe’s purchase of U.S. weaponry. 

In his comments on Friday to the Bloomberg news agency on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, he added: “That gives us the right to have a voice in the arrangements and the outcomes.” 

“It’s getting a little strange,” he said. “We pay for the war and we don’t even always have the full information.” 

Trilateral talks 

The latest push by the U.S. to secure peace in Ukraine has seen trilateral talks between officials from Washington, Moscow and Kyiv but with no involvement of European delegates. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier in February that the Trump administration aims to bring the war to an end by June. 

U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on that position on Friday, telling journalists that Russia is ready to strike a deal and that Zelenskyy risks missing the chance for peace. 

“Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky’s going to have to get moving,” Trump said at the White House. “Otherwise he’s going to miss a great opportunity. He has to move.” 

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Air defense 

Britain’s defense minister, John Healy, on Thursday announced an allied pledge of a further €30 billion to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses following a spate of devastating attacks on its energy infrastructure. 

Sikorski said Europe had already spent more than €200 billion on aid to Ukraine and had pledged another €90 billion, enough to cover its defense needs for two more years. 

‘No peace without Europeans’ 

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, echoed Sikorski’s sentiment in Munich on Friday, saying there could be no peace in Ukraine without Europe’s involvement. 

“No peace without the Europeans,” he said in a speech to the conference. “I want to be very clear: you can negotiate without the Europeans, if you prefer, but it will not bring a peace at the table.” 

He said this was why Paris had set up a direct line of communication with Moscow, to prevent Europe being a mere “spectator” in the evolving global security architecture.  

“Europe must become a geopolitical power,” he said.