European leaders warn against a Ukraine-Russian peace plan without them

Illustration of Putin, Trump and Zelensky

As the US and Russia begin discussing Ukraine's future, the rest of Europe worries they may be left out — and left behind

(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has once again turned his eye toward Ukraine — this time not to extract political dirt on an opponent but instead in the hopes of ending the war between Kyiv and Russia that has left Europe in its most precarious geopolitical position since the Cold War. Trump's latest overture to Moscow has stunned many; not only has the U.S. opened negotiations with Russia, but according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Ukraine will ultimately not regain all of its lost territory. On top of that, the U.S. will not support Ukraine's bid to join NATO as a bulwark against future Russian invasions.

Outside of Ukraine, nowhere has the shock of Trump's unilateral overtures to Russia been felt more acutely than among the leaders of NATO and European Union countries. Those leaders fear that they will be left on the outside looking in as the fate of their continent is seemingly decided without their input and at their expense.

What did the commentators say?

Appearing at a joint press conference at NATO headquarters on Thursday, "Europe's defense ministers had one common message," the BBC said: there can be "no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine and Europe at the table too." The question, ultimately, is to "what extent the U.S. is listening" given the "tangible sense that Europe's leaders have been caught by surprise."

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European countries want a "central role in peace talks" between Russia and Ukraine because any settlement to the war that has lasted for three years to their east will have "ramifications for their own security," said Reuters. In particular, European leaders say Washington has "made clear" that it expects their countries to provide "security guarantees for any peace deal," which could include deploying troops from their own militaries.

With peace talks looming and the American position stated, Europeans "need to respond," said former NATO Assistant Secretary General Camille Grand to The New York Times. One path is for the Europeans to say, "'Oh my god, we can't do this without you Americans,' and add to the Trump perception that they are useless and security free-riders." Alternately, they can "counter Trump's restrictive terms" and say that while they're ready to contribute, "these are our conditions to do it."

That second option seems to be at the heart of U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey's response this week. "We heard [Hegseth's] call for European nations to step up," Healey said at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "We are, and we will." At the same time, Healey "underlined" Ukraine's ultimate entry into the defense organization, said The Associated Press.

What next?

Member states may individually grumble and protest their apparent exclusion, but NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has publicly "downplayed concerns" that European nations and Ukraine are being "sidelined" from negotiations, said Politico. For Rutte, the "essential element" of any negotiation is to avoid a repeat of previous negotiations that "failed to stop Russia's decade-long aggression" and ultimately led to the 2022 invasion.

One challenge facing NATO and the European Union is that it "struggles to speak with one voice and present a united vision," the BBC said. At the same time, the EU wonders "whether the U.S. is listening to them, or even reading their communiques."

Despite the nations' various protestations and attempts to work within the framework presented by Hegseth and Trump, it's unclear "how much leverage the Europeans would have over the U.S." regarding Russia and negotiations over the future of Ukraine, said The New York Times. To that end, NATO has begun testing new methods to "rapidly deploy across eastern Europe — without direct U.S. assistance," Military.com said. This week's Steadfast Dart 2025 military exercises across Bulgaria, Romania and Greece are the "largest NATO operation planned this year" and do not include U.S. forces, as European nations "scramble to build greater military self-sufficiency" without American assistance.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.