Azernews.Az

European leaders Monday sought to overcome differences at emergency Paris talks on responding to a shock policy shift on the war in Ukraine by the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump, as Germany bristled at suggestions troops could be deployed.

With European policymakers still reeling from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's withering attack on the European Union at the annual Munich Security Forum, key leaders attended the meeting at the Elysee Palace called at the last minute by President Emmanuel Macron, according to Moscowtimes.

In the most concrete sign yet of the U.S. policy shift, Washington and Moscow's top diplomats on Tuesday were due to have the first such face-to-face meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a clear sign that Trump wants to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin in from the cold.

Facing one of their biggest challenges in years, European leaders fear that Trump wants to make peace with Russia in talks that will not even involve Kyiv, let alone the European Union.

They now need to weigh measures including ramping up defense spending to be less dependent on the U.S., to sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers when a ceasefire is agreed.

Macron held telephone talks with Trump just before the summit, the French presidency said.

"Europe's security is at a turning point," EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

"Yes, it is about Ukraine — but it is also about us," she said, calling for a "surge" in defense spending.