A senior advisor to Ukrainian President Zelensky has stated that Ukraine hopes Europe will quickly nominate a representative to participate in potential talks between the US and Russia. Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of Zelensky's office, said during security consultations in Brussels that this decision should be made promptly, "We should act immediately, not remain in the reflection phase."
Although Zhovkva did not disclose specific candidates, he emphasized that the representative should be of leader-level standing, comparable to Zelensky, US President Trump, and Russian President Putin. Zelensky expressed support for this proposal, telling reporters, "There must be a European representative."
US President Trump has been advancing the process of talks with Russia very rapidly, which has caught European leaders by surprise. It is expected that this week, US and Russian officials will hold meetings in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, French President Macron quickly convened several European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Starmer, for a mini summit in Paris on Monday to discuss the Ukraine issue and possible ways to increase European defense spending. Although this meeting is not expected to produce formal conclusions, attending officials hope to discuss ways to respond to the statements made by US officials at the Munich Security Conference, which indicated that Washington's military actions in Europe are limited.
The Élysée Palace revealed that Macron had a roughly 20-minute phone call with Trump prior to the meeting and plans to brief Trump on the latest developments after the meeting.
