France is not ‘preparing to send ground troops to the front’ in Ukraine

US would not oppose Europe sending peackeepers to Ukraine, says Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would not oppose Europeans if they want to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine to provide security guarantees in the event of a peace deal.

"Having troops over there would be fine, I wouldn't object to it at all," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.

Russia, US to name negotiators on ending Ukraine war

Russia and the United States on Tuesday agreed to establish teams to negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine after talks that drew a strong rebuke from Kyiv over its exclusion.

Washington noted European nations would have to have a seat at the negotiating table "at some point", following the first high-level official Washington-Moscow talks since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Some European leaders, alarmed by President Donald Trump's overhaul of US policy on Russia, fear Washington will make serious concessions to Moscow and re-write the continent's security arrangement in a Cold War-style deal.

Rubio spoke to European counterparts after Russia talks, French foreign ministry says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his French, British, Italian and German counterparts as well as to European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas following his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said they had discussed the meeting between Rubio and Lavrov, which was held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had discussed Monday's European meeting in Paris on European security and Ukraine.

France not planning to deploy ground troops to the front in Ukraine

In an interview with French regional newspapers, Macron said Paris was not "preparing to send ground troops, which are belligerent to the conflict, to the front" in Ukraine but was considering, with its ally Britain, sending "experts or even troops in limited terms, outside any conflict zone".

Trump 'can restart useful dialogue' with Putin, Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he will host a new meeting on Ukraine after the talks between the new US administration and Russia, adding that Donald Trump "can restart a useful dialogue" with Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with French regional newspapers, Macron said Paris was not "preparing to send ground troops, which are belligerent to the conflict, to the front" in Ukraine but was considering, with its ally Britain, sending "experts or even troops in limited terms, outside any conflict zone".

He said the new talks would take place on Wednesday "with several European and non-European states", after an emergency meeting on Monday in Paris which brought together a small number of key European countries.

Rubio briefs key European ministers on Russia talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed key European ministers on Tuesday on his talks in Riyadh with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the Ukraine war, the French foreign ministry said.

With European governments worried about being excluded from talks on the Ukraine conflict, Rubio spoke with foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union foreign affairs chief, the ministry said, without giving details of the discussions.

EU lawmakers warn Europe cannot 'rely on' US

EU lawmakers on Tuesday demanded Europe "double down" on bolstering its defences and supporting Ukraine after the United States launched efforts with Russia to stop the war.

"Europe can no longer fully rely on the United States to defend our shared values and interests, including continued support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said a statement from the European People's Party, Socialists and Democrats, Renew and Greens. 

"We must face this new reality and double down on our joint European effort in defence of Ukraine and European security as a whole by establishing a credible and strong deterrence against any aggression."

The call for action came after top US officials met Russian negotiators in Saudi Arabia to lay the ground for talks on ending Moscow's three-year war on Ukraine.

France convenes second meeting on Ukraine with other Europeans, Canada

France plans to a host a second meeting to discuss Ukraine and European security on Wednesday, but has this time invited European countries who were not present earlier this week and NATO ally Canada, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

Two diplomatic sources said the countries invited were Norway, Canada, the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia), the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden and Belgium.

Some countries could participate by video conference, two of the diplomats said.

The Élysée did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Kyiv accuses Trump of 'feeding Putin's appetite'

A senior Ukrainian official on Tuesday criticised US President Donald Trump for launching talks with Russia without Ukraine, after officials from Washington and Moscow held their first meeting since the invasion of Ukraine. 

"Both (former US presidents Barack) Obama before 2014 and (Joe) Biden before this war talked to Putin about everyone without everyone, about Europe without Europe, and someone in Trump's team led him in the same footsteps. This will only be feeding Putin's appetite," a senior official requesting anonymity told AFP.

Local residents take shelter in a metro station during an air strike alarm in Kyiv on February 18, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. © Tetiana Dzhafarove, AFP

Sidelined by Trump, Macron tries to rally Europe on Ukraine. But divisions run deep

French President Emmanuel Macron painted a veneer of European unity by inviting a small number of handpicked European leaders to the Élysée Palace, while the Trump administration sidelined the continent by moving ahead with direct negotiations on Tuesday with Russia on the war in Ukraine. But beneath the diplomatic pageantry, cracks in European consensus were hard to ignore.

One question loomed: Could Europe take charge of its own security, or would it remain reactive to U.S. and Russian decisions?

From Macron’s push for European-led defense to Keir Starmer’s “third way” diplomacy, Giorgia Meloni’s balancing act between Brussels and Washington, and Olaf Scholz’s resistance to breaking with NATO, Europe remains divided on its next move.

By hosting the Monday summit in his Parisian palace, Macron reinforced his image of the imperial French ‘Sun King’ and his bid to become the dominant voice on Ukraine and European security. With Germany’s Scholz politically weakened, the U.K. outside the EU, and Italy leaning toward Trump, Macron has emerged as the bloc’s most vocal advocate for strategic autonomy.

US and Russia agree to restore diplomatic missions as first step in Ukraine war talks

The US and Russia agreed on Tuesday to restore the normal functioning of each other's diplomatic missions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after talks between senior US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

The move appeared to signal a significant easing of restrictions on Russian diplomatic missions in the United States that were imposed by past US administrations over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and other Russian actions.

The Riyadh talks were aimed as a step toward ending Russia's war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump, who took office last month, ordered top officials to begin negotiations.

Polish president says was 'assured' US had 'no intention' to reduce troop presence

Poland's president said on Tuesday his NATO country bordering Russia received assurance that the United States was not planning to reduce its troop presence in the region, following talks with the US special Ukraine envoy.

"We have been assured... there is absolutely no American intention to reduce activity here in our part of Europe, especially in the area of security; to reduce the number of American troops," Andrzej Duda told reporters.

China supports all Ukraine peace efforts, Gaza not a 'bargaining chip', says Wang

China supports all efforts conducive to peace talks in Ukraine, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, adding Gaza and the West Bank "are the homeland of the Palestinian people, not a bargaining chip in political trade-offs."

Zelensky calls for 'fair' Ukraine talks involving Europe, Turkey

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that any talks aimed at ending the war should be "fair" and involve European countries, including Turkey.

"Ukraine, Europe in a broad sense – and this includes the European Union, Turkey, and the UK – should be involved in conversations and the development of the necessary security guarantees with America regarding the fate of our part of the world," Zelensky said at a press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Ankara.

Zelensky postpones his visit to Saudi Arabia, says no talks behind Kyiv's back

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia planned for Wednesday until March 10, adding that no talks could be held behind Ukraine's back on how to end the war.

Zelensky said that to ensure just peace, the United States, Ukraine, and Europe should participate in the talks on security guarantees for Kyiv.

Erdogan says Turkey 'ideal host' for talks on ending Ukraine war

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Turkey would be the "ideal host" for any talks to end the nearly three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

"Turkey will be an ideal host for the possible talks between Russia, Ukraine and America in the near future," he said at a joint press conference in Ankara with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Zelensky slams US-Russia meeting as talks about Ukraine 'without Ukraine'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday criticised talks between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia as talks about the war in Ukraine without Ukrainian participation.

Talks "are taking place between representatives of Russia and representatives of the United States of America. About Ukraine – about Ukraine again – and without Ukraine," Zelensky said during an official visit to Turkey.

A handout photograph taken and released by the X account of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara on February 18, 2025. © Handout, X account of Volodymyr Zelensky, AFP

Russia says unacceptable for NATO member troops to be in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Ministern Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that NATO membership for Ukraine was unacceptable as was the appearance of NATO member troops – even if they were operating there under a different flag.

"We explained to our colleagues today what President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly stressed: that the expansion of NATO, the absorption of Ukraine by the North Atlantic alliance, is a direct threat to the interests of the Russian Federation, a direct threat to our sovereignty," Lavrov said.

"We explained today that the appearance of armed forces from the same NATO countries, but under a false flag, under the flag of the European Union or under national flags, does not change anything in this regard. Of course, this is unacceptable to us."

Russia and US agreed to start process to settle Ukraine conflict, Lavrov says

Russia and the United States agreed to establish a process for settling the Ukraine conflict and to remove barriers for diplomatic missions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

The talks were useful, Russian and American delegations listened to and heard each other and agreed to create conditions to fully restore cooperation between the two countries, he said.

"The conversation, I believe, was very useful. We did not just listen but heard each other, and I have reason to believe the American side has better understood our position," Lavrov, who took part in the talks, told a press conference.

US adviser says Ukraine talks to focus on 'territory' and 'security guarantees'

Negotiations to end the Ukraine war will focus on territory and security guarantees, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said after US-Russia talks in Riyadh on Tuesday.

"This needs to be a permanent end to the war and not a temporary end, as we've seen in the past," Waltz told a news conference in the Saudi capital, adding, "there is going to be some discussion of territory and there's going to be discussion of security guarantees."