Europe will not be part of Ukraine peace talks, US envoy says

By Andrew Gray, Lili Bayer and John Irish

MUNICH (Reuters) - Europe won't have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks, Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said on Saturday, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.

Trump shocked European allies this week by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kyiv beforehand and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.

Trump administration officials have also made clear in recent days that they expect European allies in NATO to take primary responsibility for the region as the U.S. now has other priorities, such as border security and countering China.

The U.S. moves have stoked fears that Europeans may be cut out of a peace deal that would also impact their own security, particularly if it is seen as too favourable to Russia.

Kellogg told a global security conference in Munich that the U.S. would act as an intermediary in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two protagonists.

Asked about the prospects of the Europeans being at the table, Kellogg said: "I'm (from) a school of realism. I think that's not gonna happen."

At a later event at the conference, Kellogg sought to reassure Europeans by declaring this did not mean "their interests are not considered, used or developed".

But European leaders said they would not accept being shut out of the talks.

"There's no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine's future or European security structure, without Europeans," Finland's President Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich.

"But this means that Europe needs to get its act together. Europe needs to talk less and do more."

Stubb said the questionnaire the U.S. sent to Europeans "will force Europeans to think".

A European diplomat said the U.S. document included six questions with one specifically for European Union member states.

"The Americans are approaching European capitals and asking how many soldiers they are ready to deploy," one diplomat said.

France is discussing with its allies the possibility of holding an informal meeting among European leaders on Ukraine to discuss these matters, although nothing has been decided at this stage, a French presidency official said on Saturday.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said it would take place on Monday.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also urged Europeans to get their act together.

"And to my European friends, I would say, get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up (defence) spending," he said in Munich.

Kellogg told the conference that talks aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine could focus on territorial concessions from Russia and targeting Putin's oil revenues.

"Russia is really a petrostate," he said, adding that Western powers needed to do more regarding effectively enforcing sanctions on Russia.

EUROPEAN ARMY?

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for the creation of a European army, saying the continent could no longer be sure of protection from the United States and would only get respect from Washington with a strong military.

Zelenskiy said Kyiv would never accept a deal made behind its back, and predicted Putin would try to have Trump attend Moscow's May 9 World War Two victory anniversary parade "not as a respected leader but as a prop in his own performance".

In an impassioned speech, Zelenskiy said an address by U.S. Vice President JD Vance to the conference the previous day had made clear the relationship between Europe and the United States was changing.

"Let's be honest - now we can't rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it," said Zelenskiy, speaking as the war triggered by Russia's invasion of his country is set to enter its fourth year.

He said a European army - which would include Ukraine - was necessary so that the continent's "future depends only on Europeans - and decisions about Europeans are made in Europe".

European nations cooperate militarily primarily within NATO, but governments have so far rejected various calls for the creation of a single European army over the years, arguing that defence is a matter of national sovereignty.

A senior official from an eastern member state of the European Union responded sceptically to Zelenskiy's proposal for a European army, saying: "There is a European military force called NATO."

In a sign that there is still some degree of international cooperation in the new Trump era, G7 foreign ministers - including the U.S. - agreed on Saturday on a statement in which they pledged to continue working together to get a durable peace deal for Ukraine with robust security guarantees.

(Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Kyiv, Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Andreas Rinke in Munich, Angelo Amante in Rome, Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Gareth Jones and Daniel Wallis)