Trump-Putin Phone Call Deemed Ignoring Europe

Moscow, Thursday – Donald Trump’s presence in the US presidency continues to trigger surprises and bring rapid change. After stunning the world with tariffs and pressure for Palestinians to leave Gaza, Trump has now begun his move to end the war in Ukraine.

Referring to the statement of the Head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, Sergei Naryskin, to the RIA News Agency, Thursday (13/2/2025), Trump has called his counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversation was described as deep, meaningful, and productive.

Trump and Putin spoke for approximately one hour. One of the important issues they discussed was the desire to meet and immediately begin discussions to end the war in Ukraine. This significant development was met with various responses from several parties, including allies of Russia and the US.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that an agreement to end the war in Ukraine should not be forced upon Kyiv. "What needs to be ensured is that there is no imposed peace," Scholz told Politico News Agency.

With concern, he stated that the transatlantic unity must always be firmly maintained. "It is very clear to me that there will be no solution that does not involve the US," said Scholz.

Meanwhile, the French Minister of Defense, Sebastien Lecornu, stated that the talks between Trump and Putin have brought the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO to a moment of truth or "crucial moment of truth." From NATO's perspective, the United States and Russia have bilaterally entered an important phase on how to end the war in Ukraine.

"The public refers to NATO as the most important and strongest military alliance in history. That is historically true, but the question is, will it remain true in the next 10 or 15 years," said Lecornu.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius regrets Trump's move. According to him, Trump has given "concessions" to Russia even before peace negotiations regarding Ukraine have begun.

"I think it would be better to talk about the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine or the possibility of losing territory at the negotiating table," Pistorius said ahead of a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Europe is right to worry that talks to end the war in Ukraine will be one-sided and detrimental to Kyiv. Like Germany and France, Poland and Britain also have a similar stance. They insist that there can be no peace talks without Ukraine.

London insists Ukraine and Europe must be part of any peace talks. “There can be no talks on Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks,” British Defense Secretary John Healey said.

"Europe has to be part of these negotiations," Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said. "Europe is investing in Ukraine's defense, and Europe is rebuilding Ukraine with EU money, with our bilateral assistance, so we have to be there."

Responding to his counterpart's concerns, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump's intention to end the Ukraine war was not a betrayal of Kyiv. "There is no betrayal there. There is a recognition that the rest of the world and the United States are invested and interested in peace," Hegseth said.

In addition, he said it was unrealistic for Ukraine to regain all its territories or become a member of NATO.

The opposite response came from Moscow. According to Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, Europe is jealous of the Trump-Putin talks. From Moscow's perspective, the two leaders' talks show that Europe's power, in this case NATO, on the global stage has weakened. "The cold spinsters of Europe are angry with jealousy and anger," Medvedev wrote on Telegram.

According to him, Europe was not invited to the dialogue or informed about Trump and Putin's talks. "That shows its real role in the world," Medvedev said. "The era of Europe is over."

He further said that the West's hopes of defeating Russia would not be achieved.

Russia's close partner China welcomed the Trump-Putin talks. "Both Russia and the United States are countries with great influence. China is happy to see Russia and the United States strengthening communication and dialogue on a range of international issues," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing in Beijing.