The Prime Ministers of Denmark and the Netherlands, Mette Frederiksen and Dick SchoofYes, they have been invited to the mini-summit of the European powers of NATO with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskywhich takes place this Wednesday in Brussels. A restricted meeting in which, however, the President of the Government does not participate, Pedro Sanchezdespite the fact that he is also in the Belgian capital to participate in the EU-Balkans summit and the European Council. The objective of the meeting is to discuss how to maintain support for kyiv after the return of donald trump to the White House on January 20.
The Government had justified Sánchez’s absence because it was a consolidated format with the European countries of the G-7 (Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) plus Poland, in which Spain has never participated. However, in the last few hours it has become known that the guest list also includes Frederiksen (who, according to herself, represents the Nordic and Baltic countries) and the Dutch Schoof. The meeting has been called by the new Secretary General of NATO, also Dutch Mark Ruttewhich has kept the list of participants secret until the end.
The objective of convening this restricted group was to generate a “brainstorm” on how European allies can intensify their support for Ukraine in the new Trump era, according to European sources. That is to say, it is not something that concerns only NATO but also the European Union. That is why the president of the Commission also participates in the meeting, Ursula von der Leyenand the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa. The Atlantic Alliance has not responded to this newspaper’s questions about why Sánchez has not been invited.
The new North American president would have asked the EU to send peace forces to Ukraine to supervise a possible ceasefire, which has generated a debate that has spread like wildfire through European capitals. “It is not something that Spain is considering”assured this Monday the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
To justify the unusual format of the call, Rutte explained that he decided to have dinner with Zelensky upon learning that he was in Brussels to participate in the European Council this Thursday. “And since there are also other allies in the city, It seemed right to invite a couple of them to that meeting.“he alleged.
“The most important thing on the agenda is that the president, his team, Ukraine, are in the best possible position to start one daywhen they decide, the peace talks (with Russia)”, the NATO Secretary General explained in a brief joint appearance with Zelensky. In this sense, he pointed out that the Ukrainians need 19 extra air defense systems to protect their critical infrastructures.
The second item on the agenda of the mini-summit of European NATO allies is to discuss how to economically support Ukraine, not only now but also “the day after a peace agreement.”
Rutte considers it premature to discuss sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, because the only thing this achieves is “making life easier” for the Kremlin. “Lto Our first priority must be to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine is in a position of strength. Right now, the front line is moving from east to west and we don’t like that“, he pointed out.
For his part, the Ukrainian president stressed that “Europe needs a firm and united position to guarantee lasting peace“All the fundamental issues affecting Europe – and ending Russia’s war against Ukraine is undoubtedly one of them – require coordinated and effective work by European nations,” Zelensky maintains.
“We all want peace in Ukraine. But it must be a just and lasting peace. It cannot be on Putin’s terms. We must give Ukraine the best possible conditions to defend itself against Russia. This requires European countries to provide more support and more quickly. Putin is not looking for peace. It must be stopped with force and European unity,” says the Danish Prime Minister.
For his part, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has insisted that nothing can be decided about Ukraine without the active participation of Ukrainians. “Ukraine must first define for itself what its objectives are in relation to a peace that is not a dictated peace,” he said.
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