French President Emmanuel Macron failed to obtain clear security guarantees for Ukraine from US President Donald Trump during his visit to the White House this week, European officials and diplomats reported, News.bg reports.
On Wednesday morning, Macron briefed EU leaders on his meeting with Trump during an urgently convened 30-minute video conference.
"Macron said Trump had not made any clear promises about the backstop. So the strategic ambiguity on this issue remains,” a source told Politico.
As the U.S. and Russia negotiate an end to the war without involving Kiev and Europe, European capitals like Paris and London are trying to organize a peacekeeping mission for Ukraine in case a deal is reached.
Security guarantees that would prevent another Russian attack are a key topic in those discussions. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are also visiting Washington this week to secure U.S. military commitments.
After a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump remained evasive about possible guarantees the U.S. could provide, despite the critical minerals deal that Zelensky is expected to sign in Washington.
“I’m not going to give extraordinary security guarantees. We’re going to get Europe to do that because… Europe is their neighbor. But we will make sure everything goes well,” Trump said.
Although his administration has made it clear that it will not send American troops to Ukraine, European leaders are still hoping for a U.S. backstop that could include intelligence support, air defense and military transport.
“It was a waste of time,” said a senior EU official who attended the meeting.
“We as Europe are pretty much on our own in this right now,” added another diplomat.
American involvement in any European military deployment in Ukraine remains crucial. Starmer, who will meet Trump on Thursday, recently said that there must be “American protection” after a possible peace deal. to deter Russia.
Meanwhile, Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, rushed to Paris on Wednesday to discuss the outcome of the Macron-Trump meeting.
A meeting between Starmer and EU leaders on joint defence plans will be held in London on 2 March, followed by a European Council on 6 March.
EU ambassadors discussed what security guarantees the EU could provide and what a lasting peace for the bloc would look like. The appointment of an EU special representative to participate in any peace talks was also proposed.
However, Trump has so far shown no interest in including European representatives in his talks with Russia.