French President Emmanuel Macron is inviting European leaders for a summit in Paris on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday.
The “main European countries” will meet Monday in the French capital to discuss European security, Barrot told France Inter. He insisted that such meetings are held frequently and that it should not be “dramatized.”
Barrot didn’t give details or say which leaders have been invited to the short-notice gathering.
It wasn’t clear if the Paris meeting would involve all European Union leaders, or only a smaller group of countries, and if other European leaders would also be invited. Germany, Italy, Britain, Poland and Denmark appear to be invited.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated late Saturday that he plans to attend the emergency summit, according to media reports. Starmer said Europe is at a “once-in-a-generation moment for our national security.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski talked about the planned Paris meeting at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, saying his country’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk will be heading to Paris. Sikorski said he expects the crisis meeting to discuss the challenges posed by United States President Donald Trump.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to meet with Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, on Monday in Brussels.
Plans for the informal summit come after a week that saw Trump hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about peace talks over the war in Ukraine, and an announcement of a face-to-face meeting proposed to take place in Saudi Arabia.
Trump officials are heading to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to start the talks. The EU hasn’t been invited to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials aren’t aware of any talks and no delegation is traveling to Saudi Arabia.
“It’s clear Europe must take on a greater role in NATO as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia,” Starmer said, according to the media reports.
Victor Goury-Laffont and Hans von der Burchard contributed reporting.
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