European leaders gather for an emergency meeting after Trump snub

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Donald Trump ahead of European emergency meeting on Ukraine in Paris, but Macron’s office would not disclose details about the discussion.

Macron called leaders from key European Union nations and the United Kingdom to the Elysee Palace on Monday for talks on how to react to the U.S. diplomatic blitz on Ukraine, which left the once rock-solid partner as a potential political liability.

Last week, top U.S. officials from the Trump administration made their first visit to Europe, leaving the impression that Washington was ready to embrace the Kremlin while it cold-shouldered many of its age-old European allies.

Despite belligerent warnings for months ahead of Donald Trump’s reelection as U.S. president, EU leaders publicly ignored the ominous forebodings, hoping somehow that Trump would stand shoulder to shoulder with Europe while the continent would finally start to beef up its defenses and become less reliant on American firepower.

But a flurry of speeches by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week questioned both Europe’s security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles. Macron said their stinging rebukes and threats of non-cooperation in the face of military danger felt like a shock to the system.

The tipping point came when Trump decided to upend years of U.S. policy by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Then, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia on Saturday all but ruled out the inclusion of other Europeans in any Ukraine peace talks.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the week “an existential moment. It’s a moment where Europe has to stand up.”

That’s where Macron hopes to step in with Monday’s meeting.

Leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the European Union are to have talks on how to deal with Europe’s security quandary. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will also attend.

Ever since World War II, the United States and Western European nations have basically walked in lockstep as they confronted the Soviet Union during the Cold War, right up to the increasingly aggressive actions of current-day Russia close to its borders. Even if there had long been U.S. complaints about the reluctance of many European NATO nations to step up their defense efforts, they never boiled up to the political surface as they have over the past days.

French officials said no firm announcements are expected to emerge beyond a show of unity from European leaders. More talks are expected at the broader EU level, they said.

Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelenskyy said “negotiations are moving fast with Europe,” in a virtual news conference Monday in Kyiv. “Everyone told me that what happened (at the Munich Security Conference) accelerated everything.” Zelenskyy said French President Emmanuel Macron had agreed to provide him with a briefing on the conclusions from the meeting in Paris.

A strong U.S. link, though, will remain essential for the foreseeable future since it will take many years before European nations can ratchet up defense equipment production and integrate it into an effective force.

That U.S. bond also applies to dealing with war in Ukraine, said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “U.S. support will remain critical and a U.S. security guarantee is essential for a lasting peace, because only the U.S. can deter Putin from attacking again,” Starmer wrote in Monday’s Daily Telegraph.

While many EU nations are still mulling whether to contribute troops to a potential force in Ukraine after a peace deal, Starmer said that the U.K. was “ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.

“I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way,” he wrote.

Macron last year refused to rule out sending Western troops into Ukraine if necessary.

European nations are bent on boosting Ukraine where they can, and EU nations see eye to eye when it comes to upping defense spending. However, even if there is a general consensus to move beyond the goal of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense, it is hardly clear how to get to 3%.

Some EU nations insist on an agreement on joint borrowing for massive defense projects, while others say the nations that lag behind on spending should first reach 2%. That issue is also set to be discussed at the meeting.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he plans to urge other leaders to invest more in defense, ahead of his departure for the Paris meeting. Poland spends more than 4% of its GDP on defense, more than any other NATO member.

“If we want to decide about the future of Ukraine together with Ukraine, the United States, Russia, we must also show that we are capable of much more serious investment in our own defense,” he said. However, he also said that he does not envision Poland sending its own troops to Ukraine.

But some of the EU nations balked at the thought of the restrictive Elysee meeting with only a few chosen leaders while others were left in the cold. For an uncomfortable number of decisions, the EU needs the backing of all 27 nations. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has already threatened to use his veto on a number of occasions.

Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar said the selective list of invitees was proof that the EU member states are not treated equally. “This is not Europe that commands respect abroad. This is not the Europe that would be a serious partner to the North American ally,” she said.

Casert reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland and Justin Spike in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report.

巴黎（美联社）——法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙在巴黎召开的关于乌克兰问题的欧洲紧急会议前与唐纳德·特朗普通了电话，但马克龙的办公室拒绝透露有关谈话的细节。

周一，马克龙召集欧盟主要国家和英国的领导人到爱丽舍宫，商讨如何应对美国对乌克兰的外交闪电战。这场闪电战使这个曾经坚如磐石的伙伴变成了潜在的政治包袱。

上周，特朗普政府的美国高级官员首次访问欧洲，给人留下的印象是，华盛顿准备拥抱克里姆林宫，却冷落了许多历史悠久的欧洲盟友。

尽管在唐纳德·特朗普连任美国总统之前的几个月里，欧盟领导人一直发出好战的警告，但他们公开无视这些不祥的预兆，希望特朗普能够与欧洲并肩作战，而欧洲大陆最终能够开始加强防御，减少对美国火力的依赖。

但上周，副总统约翰·迪·万斯和国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的一系列讲话，既质疑了欧洲的安全承诺，也质疑了其基本的民主原则。马克龙表示，面对军事威胁，他们严厉的斥责和不合作的威胁，令整个体系感到震惊。

转折点出现在特朗普决定推翻美国多年来的政策，与俄罗斯总统普京举行会谈，希望结束俄乌战争之时。随后，特朗普的乌克兰和俄罗斯问题特使在周六几乎完全排除了其他欧洲国家参与任何乌克兰和平谈判的可能性。

德国外交部长安娜莱娜·贝尔伯克称本周是“一个生死攸关的时刻。这是欧洲必须挺身而出的时刻。”

马克龙希望通过周一的会议来介入此事。

德国、英国、意大利、波兰、西班牙、荷兰、丹麦和欧盟的领导人将举行会谈，讨论如何应对欧洲的安全困境。北约秘书长马克·吕特也将出席。

自二战以来，美国和西欧国家在冷战期间对抗苏联时，基本上步调一致，直至今日俄罗斯在其边境附近采取日益咄咄逼人的行动。尽管美国长期以来一直对许多欧洲北约国家不愿加强防御有所不满，但这些不满从未像最近几天这样公开化。

法国官员表示，除了欧洲领导人展现团结之外，预计不会有其他实质性声明出台。他们还表示，欧盟层面还将举行更多会谈。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基周一在基辅举行的线上新闻发布会上表示，“与欧洲的谈判进展迅速”。他说：“大家都告诉我，慕尼黑安全会议的成果加速了谈判进程。”泽连斯基还表示，法国总统马克龙已同意向他汇报巴黎会议的结论。

不过，在可预见的未来，与美国保持紧密联系仍然至关重要，因为欧洲国家需要很多年才能提高国防装备的生产能力并将其整合为一支有效的部队。

英国首相基尔·斯塔默表示，美国的支持也适用于处理乌克兰战争问题。“美国的支持仍然至关重要，美国的安全保障对于持久和平必不可少，因为只有美国才能阻止普京再次发动袭击，”斯塔默周一在《每日电讯报》上撰文写道。

尽管许多欧盟国家仍在考虑是否在和平协议达成后向乌克兰的潜在部队派遣军队，但斯塔默表示，英国“随时准备并愿意在必要时向乌克兰派遣我们自己的军队，为乌克兰的安全保障做出贡献”。

“我这么说并非轻率之举。我深感责任重大，因为这可能会让英国军人身处险境，”他写道。

马克龙去年拒绝排除在必要时向乌克兰派遣西方军队的可能性。

欧洲各国都竭尽所能地支持乌克兰，欧盟各国在增加国防开支方面也意见一致。然而，即便各方普遍同意将国防开支提高到占国内生产总值2%以上，如何达到3%的目标却仍不明朗。

一些欧盟国家坚持要求就大规模国防项目联合借贷达成协议，而另一些国家则认为，国防开支落后的国家应首先达到2%的水平。该问题也将在会议上进行讨论。

波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克表示，在他启程前往巴黎参加北约峰会之前，他计划敦促其他国家领导人加大国防投入。波兰的国防开支占其国内生产总值的4%以上，高于其他任何北约成员国。

他说：“如果我们想与乌克兰、美国和俄罗斯共同决定乌克兰的未来，我们也必须表明我们有能力对自身国防进行更大规模的投入。” 然而，他也表示，他不认为波兰会向乌克兰派遣军队。

但一些欧盟国家对只有少数几位指定领导人参加的爱丽舍宫会议感到不满，而另一些国家则被排除在外。欧盟在很多决策上都需要所有27个成员国的支持。匈牙利总理欧尔班是俄罗斯总统普京的坚定盟友，他已经多次威胁要动用否决权。

斯洛文尼亚总统娜塔莎·皮尔茨·穆萨尔表示，欧盟邀请名单的选择性做法证明欧盟成员国并未受到平等对待。“这并非在国际上赢得尊重的欧洲。这也不是能够成为北美盟友可靠伙伴的欧洲。”她说道。

卡塞特从布鲁塞尔报道。美联社记者杜桑·斯托亚诺维奇（塞尔维亚贝尔格莱德）、瓦妮莎·格拉（波兰华沙）和贾斯汀·斯派克（乌克兰基辅）对本报道亦有贡献。