What did the French president do after making a strong statement about Ukraine?

French President Emmanuel Macron will hold an emergency summit on February 17 with European leaders, including the British Prime Minister, to discuss the war in Ukraine after US officials suggested that Europe would have no role in any negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported.

On February 16, the French presidency said Mr. Macron had called for “consultations” and that the conference would address the volatile change in the US approach to Ukraine as well as the risks to European security.

Attendees at the conference included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.

Also on February 16, writing on social network X, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, in which the two sides discussed the war waged by the Russian Federation in Ukraine as well as the role that Saudi Arabia can play in promoting a solid and sustainable peace, in which Europe holds a central position.

The day before, also on social network X, Mr. Macron wrote about the Ukraine issue, which the media said was a strong statement.

“It will be the Ukrainians who will lead the discussions to achieve a solid and lasting peace. France will support Ukraine in this effort,” Mr Macron said.

Regarding Europe, Mr. Macron said: “Europeans need to strengthen their collective security and become more self-reliant. France will play its full role in promoting this process.”

The French statements and efforts were made after a series of US moves related to the Ukraine issue that "stunned" European allies in NATO and Kiev.

First, on February 12, US President Donald Trump announced that he had a long and extremely productive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting European allies in NATO and Kiev.

After the phone call, Mr. Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social that in the phone call, he and the leader of the Russian Federation both agreed to "end the deaths of millions of people in the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine", "agreed to let their negotiating teams start negotiating immediately".

Mr. Trump also announced that he has tasked a negotiating team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Ratcliffe and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz with Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the peace negotiations, and is strongly confident that they will be successful.

Then on February 15, the US special envoy for Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Mr. Keith Kellogg, further shocked Europe when he announced that they would not have a seat at the Ukraine peace negotiation table, even after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals asking what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kiev.

Responding to a reporter's question at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) about the prospect of Europe being present at the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, Mr. Kellogg said: "I'm a realist. I don't think that will happen. What we don't want to do is engage in a big group discussion."

Arguing that European involvement was unnecessary, Mr Kellogg cited the collapse of the Minsk agreement as an example. “Remember Minsk-2 – there were a lot of European leaders there and it failed miserably,” Mr Kellogg said.

According to Reuters, dozens of related summits have been held (since the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022) showing that the EU with 27 member states remains confused, divided and struggling to come up with a unified plan to end the war in Ukraine and respond to the Russian Federation, even as Moscow's special military operation prepares to enter its fourth year.

Some countries are unhappy that the conference is for only a select few leaders rather than a full EU summit, according to EU officials.

The French presidency sought to allay those concerns, saying the February 17 meeting could take other forms “with the aim of bringing together all partners interested in European peace and security.”