President Trump is set to meet next week with two key European leaders amid tensions over Trump’s approach to negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.
National security adviser Mike Waltz confirmed on Fox News that French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington, D.C., next week to meet with Trump.
“I just got off the phone with my counterparts from the United Kingdom, from France, from Germany and said, ‘Look, we welcome Europe stepping in and offering security guarantees. We welcome Europe. We’ve been asking for years for Europe to step up and contribute more to not only their own defense but Ukraine’s defense,'” Waltz said on Fox News.
The meetings come as European leaders have raised alarms about Trump’s handling of the war in Ukraine. Trump dispatched top administration officials, including Waltz, to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss ending the war, sidelining Ukrainian and European officials.
Trump has since lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, blaming him for starting the conflict. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after amassing troops on the border and demanding a ban on Ukraine ever joining the NATO alliance. The invasion took place nearly a decade after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Trump has also criticized Europe, arguing the continent should contribute more to support Ukraine in its fight against invading Russian forces.
Trump’s rhetoric about ending the war and his conversations with Russia marked a shift in posture from the Biden administration, which worked in lockstep with European allies and championed the concept of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
Macron earlier this week hosted a summit of European leaders in Paris to discuss the path forward for the continent in light of Trump’s remarks. A second summit was set to take place Wednesday.
Starmer, meanwhile, has doubled down on support for Ukraine. The prime minister said in recent days that the United Kingdom was prepared to send British troops to Ukraine if necessary to enforce any peace agreement.
