Europeans, still stunned on Saturday, February 15, by US Vice President JD Vance’s hostile speech at the opening of the Munich Security Conference the day before, were forced to swallow yet more bitter rhetorical pills on the second day of the conference. This time, General Keith Kellogg, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, made it very clear that his country had no intention of inviting Europe to sit around the table for any negotiations to end the war started by Russia’s invasion.

Faced with the American offensive, Europe’s need to regain the initiative became increasingly apparent. At the end of the day, several European leaders were pleased to note that the Elysée Palace was planning a meeting, featuring leaders from the European countries most concerned by the issue as well as the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Paris, on Monday morning.

On Saturday morning, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, seizing on the prevailing feeling that the transatlantic front was breaking apart, delivered a willful speech that was greeted by a standing ovation. He called on the Europeans to draw concrete conclusions from what he saw as an American withdrawal from European security.

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