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(LR) British Foreign Ministry David Lammy, French Minister of French Relations Jean-Noel Barot, Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, and German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, sit on the panel during the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany, on February 15, on February 15, on February 15, on February 15. 2025.
Thomas Kienzle | AFP | Getty images
Europe faces an “existential” moment in its history and must take a bold and united position when it comes to guaranteeing the future security of Ukraine, the regional foreign ministers of Ukraine said on Saturday.
“This is an existential moment and it is a time when Europe has to stand up,” said German Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, to the audience on Saturday while participating in a panel entitled ‘Europole. The new geopolitical role of the former continent, ‘moderated by Silvia Amaro of CNBC.
“Our response to others (policy of) ‘My Nation First’ is ‘Europe United’, and this is what we show here on the panel, this is what we have shown in recent days, which we make clear there it will not be A peace in Europe if it is not a European peace, “he said.
The United Kingdom Foreign Minister David Lammy described the war in Ukraine as the first line not only for the country but for Europe, and agreed that the continent had to answer an “existential question” about the future security of Ukraine.
“We know that even when we reach a negotiated peace, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will not disappear, so this is an existential question for Europe, we need (see) that question together with the United States and in an appropriate time we will enter a Debate on security guarantees and there will be an agreement, “he said.
The European foreigners of foreigners agreed on Saturday to allow Ukraine to join the military alliance in the future could be the easiest and most profitable way to deter Russia from the future aggression towards their neighbor.
“We say that there is an irreversible path for Ukraine towards NATO,” Lammy told MSC, adding that it was “the cheapest and is the best mechanism to ensure peace not only in Europe but in the Euro-Atlantic.”
His German counterpart Baerbock agreed, saying that “the way for Ukraine resides (enter) in NATO” and that it would be the “cheapest” way to guarantee the security of long -term Ukraine.
Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in France, said the continent had much to offer in terms of leadership.
“Let me try first to fight some form of Europal blows or possessimism of the euro. We listen to the stage and many of us are proud to say that we believe that Europe is a super power. Europe is the continent that has rejected against an invasion of great Russia scale that was supposed to be the greatest military power in the world and has failed to achieve its goals, “he told the panel.
“That said, there are great challenges for Europe and one of them is to expand defense spending,” he said.
European officials staggered when President Donald Trump announced last week he had talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and that both leaders had agreed to the peace conversations, apparently without consulting the European allies before the calls.
Trump and his Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth caused a greater dismay in Europe by stating that they believed that the Ukrainian membership of the NATO military alliance was an “unrealistic” objective.
European officials responded that it was a mistake for US officials to take the NATO Ukrainian membership, a key concern of Russia and a potentially key leverage point for allies, outside the negotiating table.
Trump reaction
This year’s Munich Security Conference has brought together defense and security officials from around the world to discuss the future of Ukraine, Peace Conversations with Russia and the Defense Architecture of Europe.
The meeting comes at a time when expectations are high that the war between Russia and Ukraine can come to an end, but also increased insecurity on how a peace agreement could be negotiated in the United States and what role could the allies in negotiations.
There are also concerns that Russia could be tempted to regroup and attack Ukraine again in the future if kyiv is not granted enough security guarantees.
European officials have warned that if they are not involved in peace conversations between Russia and Ukraine, A treatment would not work But NATO chief Mark Rutte also told MSC that European NATO members must “stop complaining” to be set aside and Instead, he should create “concrete ideas” to end war in the right terms for kyiv.
Radosław Sikorski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, who said that the current situation was “a crisis and a result” that Europe has consumed a “peace dividend” for too long, added on Saturday that it was not too worried that Europe It would not have been consulted in advance. of Trump’s phone call with Putin last week.
Even so, he believed that “the call was a mistake because President Putin claims and reduces morality in Ukraine,” but said that, sooner or later, Europe would have to get involved in conversations about the future security of Ukraine.
“But when President Trump says that, as part of an agreement, there will have to be European troops (safeguard an agreement), then it will depend on us to supply them, so sooner or later we will have to participate,” he said.
Do not ensure a “fair and lasting peace” for Ukraine It would weaken not only Europe but also to the United StatesPresident of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said MSC Friday on Friday.
Special presidential sent from the United States for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said on Saturday that A peace plan for the two nations at war could come in a few days or weeks.
“I am in Trump’s time,” Kellogg told the delegates in a marginal event at the Munich Security Conference, referring to the famous decision -making of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.