BRUSSELS, February 17. /TASS/. The European Union is uneasy about responding to preparations for talks between the United States and Russia over the Ukraine conflict, the Financial Times (FT) reported citing sources.
"It’s insane how fast this is moving," a Western official briefed on the preparations told the British newspaper. "All [Europe] must do is give Ukraine as much as possible so that it can better say 'no' to things rammed down its throat [by the US and Russia]," he argued.
"Of course we understand that Americans have their own issues with Russians, it’s not our business — about the bilateral relations <…> but it is needed to have Ukraine and Europe if talks [are] about Ukraine and Europe," the official added.
Western capitals "are braced for a potentially decisive week for European security," as the United States and Russia launch talks to resolve the Ukraine conflict, and European leaders hold an emergency meeting to respond to what the newspaper called fast-moving negotiations taking place without them. According to the FT, EU leaders in Paris will discuss specific plans aiming to safeguard European defense "regardless of future US engagement" in Paris later on Monday.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said that Europe would not be physically present at the negotiating table. Lithuania’s defense chief Dovile Sakaliene acknowledged at last weekend’s Munich Security Conference that Europe was shocked by statements from Washington administration officials in the past few days.