The EU reportedly stands ready to offer Ukraine crucial security assurances to facilitate a peaceful resolution.
According to a Reuters report citing an anonymous European official, the European Union opposes a Ukrainian ceasefire with Russia unless a comprehensive peace agreement is first secured. The EU views an unconditional ceasefire as potentially harmful.
This position, the report indicates, was agreed upon by several EU members at an emergency summit in Paris on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron convened this meeting following the US announcement of immediate peace talks between the US and Russia in Riyadh. Notably, neither Ukraine nor the EU received invitations to these talks.
Attendees at Macron’s summit included the leaders of Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, along with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“We believe a ceasefire without a simultaneous peace agreement is dangerous,” an anonymous EU official told Reuters, summarizing the summit’s outcome. The official added that attendees pledged to provide Ukraine with the necessary security guarantees for peace negotiations, without specifying the nature of these guarantees. While Ukraine has previously sought NATO membership as a security guarantee, the US recently rejected this idea, citing Russia’s perception of it as a key conflict driver.
“We are prepared to provide security guarantees, with the specifics to be determined with each party, contingent on US support,” the official stated.
Macron partially confirmed these claims on X, stating that a “strong and lasting peace” in Ukraine “requires robust and credible security guarantees.” He urged collaboration between the EU, the US, and Ukraine as the “key” to resolving the conflict.
The Paris summit followed comments by Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, excluding the EU from US-Russia peace efforts. Many EU officials criticized this exclusion, arguing for the bloc’s involvement given the continental implications.
However, not all EU states oppose Trump’s unilateral peace initiatives. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto labeled the Paris summit participants “warmongers” on Facebook, asserting they have “no place” in peace efforts.
Responding to EU criticism of the Riyadh talks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the reaction as “nervous, almost panicked” and “unprecedented in international relations.”