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Morning opening: Ukraine on the agenda at a perilous moment
Frances Mao
Good morning and welcome to our live blog of a critical day in meetings between European world leaders and US officials.
The leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Denmark and Canada are all in Paris today for a meet that was scheduled last week to aid Ukraine, in the wake of Zelenskyy’s end-of-year talks with the US president, Donald Trump, to negotiate peace.
However, that was all planned before the US’s attack on Venezuela and abduction of its leader, which has upended the geopolitical calculus to say the least. Not only has it emboldened actions from states like Russia, the leaders of Nato democracies are now contending with Trump’s very active threat of grabbing territory like Denmark’s Greenland.
Despite the US’s clear violation of international law, most European leaders have also deferred from outright condemnation due to the stakes at play.
They are at a perilous position with Ukraine – in meeting with the Americans today they were trying to get the Trump administration to underwrite any security guarantees. But Trump is flouting the rules-based order – and the threat now from the US is even closer to hand for Denmark and Canada.
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What guarantees have been discussed so far
Before Venezuela, Witkoff last week had indicated progress in talks on measures to protect Ukraine against future Russian aggression.
On 31 December, he had tweeted that the “productive” discussions with national security advisers of Ukraine, UK, France and Germany had focused on “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart.”
France, which with the UK has led the months-long efforts for a ceasefire, has given some detail of such a security plan.
Macron has said that the Ukrainian military would be the first line of defence against any Russian fighting starting again, and it would be backed by the coalition’s training, weapons and other support.
He has also suggested that European forces might be deployed away from Ukraine’s front lines to help deter future Russian aggression.
Last week, Zelenskyy also revealed that the US had agreed to security guarantees of up to 15 years – although what those guarantees would look like in the shape of troop or resource deployment was unknown.
Zelenskyy this past weekend also said that potential European troop deployments still face hurdles and “not everyone is ready” to commit forces.
Before the US’s flagrant operation removing the Venezuelan leader, French president Macron had expressed optimism about today’s “coalition of willing” nations.
On 31 December, Macron said Western allies would “make concrete commitments” at the summit “to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace.”
Prospects for peace now have been upended, with US focus now squarely on Venezuela and Trump’s Greenland takeover suggestion stoking alarm in Europe.
What Trump has said on Greenland
The US president was openly speculating about the Danish territory on the weekend, after his Venezuela operation.
“It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said in rebuttal that Trump has “no right to annex” the territory and that Denmark already provides its Nato ally significant access to Greenland through existing security agreements.
Poland says Denmark can rely on European solidarity regarding Greenland
Denmark can count on the solidarity of all of Europe on Greenland, says Polish PM Donald Tusk, after Trump asserted this week again that he wanted to take over the Arctic island.
Tusk echoed Denmark’s comments yesterday that any US attack on the Danish territory would be catastrophic for the Nato coalition.
“No member should attack or threaten another member of the North Atlantic Treaty. Otherwise, NATO would lose its meaning if conflict or mutual conflicts occurred within the alliance,” Tusk said.
The various key players are arriving at the talks – including Witkoff and Kushner.
The US delegation today was supposed to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however he won’t be attending any more because of the military operation in Venezuela.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is attending the “coalition of the willing” meeting today in Paris co-chaired by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.
The Canadian PM, Mark Carney, arrived earlier this morning for bilateral talks with Macron. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the Danish PM, Mette Frederiksen, will also be there.
Zelensky is expected to arrive around 11.10am for a meeting with Macron, before meeting the US delegation, which includes the special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy had addressed his nation saying “meetings in Europe … must become yet another contribution to our defence and to hastening the end of the war.
“Ukraine will be prepared for both possible paths ahead – diplomacy, which we are pursuing, or continued active defense if the pressure from our partners on Russia proves insufficient. Ukraine seeks peace.”
The main meeting will take place just after 2pm, with a press conference expected around 5.45pm.
Details of long-term security guarantees for Ukraine are expected to be the focus of discussion, as well as the prospect of future Ukrainian membership of the EU. Given the US aggression in Venezuela, we can also expect comments from European leaders responding to Trump’s various territorial threats.
Morning opening: Ukraine on the agenda at a perilous moment
Frances Mao
Good morning and welcome to our live blog of a critical day in meetings between European world leaders and US officials.
The leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Denmark and Canada are all in Paris today for a meet that was scheduled last week to aid Ukraine, in the wake of Zelenskyy’s end-of-year talks with the US president, Donald Trump, to negotiate peace.
However, that was all planned before the US’s attack on Venezuela and abduction of its leader, which has upended the geopolitical calculus to say the least. Not only has it emboldened actions from states like Russia, the leaders of Nato democracies are now contending with Trump’s very active threat of grabbing territory like Denmark’s Greenland.
Despite the US’s clear violation of international law, most European leaders have also deferred from outright condemnation due to the stakes at play.
They are at a perilous position with Ukraine – in meeting with the Americans today they were trying to get the Trump administration to underwrite any security guarantees. But Trump is flouting the rules-based order – and the threat now from the US is even closer to hand for Denmark and Canada.
Denmark says a US attack on Greenland would be end of security order
Miranda Bryant
An attack by the United States on a Nato ally would mean the end of both the military alliance and “post-second world war security”, Denmark’s leader has warned, after Donald Trump threatened again to take over Greenland.
Fresh from his military operation in Venezuela, the US president said on Sunday the US needed Greenland “very badly” – renewing fears of a US invasion of the largely autonomous island, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom. Greenland’s foreign and security policy continues to be controlled by Copenhagen.
Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, warned on Monday that any US attack on a Nato ally would be the end of “everything”.
“If the United States decides to militarily attack another Nato country, then everything would stop – that includes Nato and therefore post-second world war security,” Frederiksen told Danish television network TV2.
