The intention of the EU Member States is to continue helping Ukraine – and positioning itself against Russia – even if Donald Trump, a newcomer to the US White House, has other plans. In fact, unlike Joe Biden’s previous administration, Trump has a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump and Putin, who last Wednesday had a phone call of an hour and a half in a good tone, as reported by the White House, are in a position to start a dialogue session that would end the war in Ukraine. After talking to Putin about this, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski to inform him of his conversation with the former, without giving the latter any decision-making power.

In order not to leave Zelenski helpless and to claim the weight that the EU Member States would like to have in the East, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, has begun to move the file. He has called an "informal emergency meeting" for Monday in Paris at 4:00 p.m., he will be the host, and his reception has been confirmed by leaders of several states such as Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.

In addition to these eight states, the assembly will be attended by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Council of Europe, Antonio Costa and the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte.

According to what Macron has anticipated, in this assembly the United States will be questioned saying that Putin must stop the invasion of Ukraine; in other words, what Trump has given to understand, that Ukraine will not return to the frontiers before 2014 – the year in which Russia annexed Crimea – Macron and others believe is not fair.

Russia and the US will open a negotiating table in Saudi Arabia, where both actors are already on their way. Europe did not like the idea, because it will not take place on its own land and because it is not invited. That's why he asked for a seat there.

The atmosphere comes warm from Munich

In recent days there has been a Security Conference in Germany, in the city of Munich, where it has been shown that the new US administration sees no need for Europe to establish "peace" between Russia and Ukraine.

Donald Trump’s deputy DJ Vance has been present at this conference, making these two points clear in his speech: that he will not allow Ukraine to join NATO, and that the US may not put at the negotiating table various measures that may be important for Ukrainians.

The President of Ukraine, Zelensky, hearing this, then spoke harshly: Calling on the European Union, he pointed out that "it is time to create a European army", expressing his complaint to the United States because they have never wanted Ukraine to join NATO. In this sense, Zelensky represents this new European army within another "NATO": "If this does not happen, because we will not have a real security guarantee, we will not accept a ceasefire."

In Munich, the atmosphere was so warm, far from ideas as it had been for a long time, that the organizer of the conference, Christoph Heusgen, could not resist crying.

Europe for Ukraine, more than the US

If the war in Ukraine is to end, Europe wants to have a role to play in the latter process. The arrival of Donald Trump to the U.S. White House, however, has caused Europe’s words to have little weight on the board of geopolitics. It wasn’t a big piece before anyway; it’s been revealed now, with Trump. Europe has been a faithful ally of the Ukrainian resistance from the outset, following the leadership of Joe Biden. Moreover, the European Union – also the United Kingdom – has spent more money helping Ukraine than the United States.

In the war industry alone, European countries have contributed EUR 133 billion to Ukraine and EUR 114 billion to the United States. It is a report by a German university that has been received by the Italian media outlet Corriere della sera. This data is significant: Biden orders Ukraine to help, and Europe complies, and now Trump is asking his allies to double their defense spending, and he seems to think that everyone will take that path.