There is great “confusion under the sky”. Fueled by a flurry of contacts, trips, more or less formal meetings and summits in the most diverse formats. Like the one between some EU heads of state and government who met yesterday at theElisha under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron or like today's meeting in Saudi Arabia between the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the head of Moscow's diplomacy, Serghei Lavrov. The purpose is clear: put an end to the war in Ukraine arrived at its thousandth day and left hundreds of thousands of dead. But at stake – there is no point in hiding it – is not only the fate of some portions of territory contested between Moscow and Kiev. There is much more: at stake is the future of transatlantic relations in the Trump era, the future role of a NATO that will have to rely more on its European allies and there is the return of Russia to the international community, with a possible invitation to participate again in the G7.
Ukraine: Europe Taken by Surprise by Trump
Europe was taken by surprise by theAmerican activism on Ukraine, furthermore taken aback by the latest statements from Trump's vice president JD Vance who accused Europe of betraying its democratic values. Macron and Scholz, despite their respective internal problems in both Paris and Berlin, have taken matters into their own hands to agree on a line of action and giving voice to the European Union in this delicate phase. Line shared by the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen and by the President of the EU Council, Antonio Costa. A summit, however, criticized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni because it would have excluded the participation of many other EU countries, including the Baltic countries bordering Russia.
In this situation It is Moscow that benefits the most. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov made no secret of this, calling it positive that European leaders discussed possible peace solutions for Ukraine in Paris. According to Peskov, what matters is that only two months ago, "everyone in the world, with the exception, perhaps, of Russia and friendly countries, was talking about how to continue the war at any cost. It is gratifying that now everyone is trying to talk about what needs to be done to stop the war at all costs. This is a positive fact."
Paris Summit on Defense Spending and Troops in Ukraine
The Paris summit, in addition to taking stock of Ukraine, served to continue the reflection already started on February 3 with the "retreat" called by Costa in Brussels on the EU's capabilities in the Defense sector, especially now that the United States has declared that it wants to significantly reduce its presence in Europe. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, criticized the American approach. On the EU defensive capabilities Germany, Scholz said, “is ready to spend at least 2% of GDP for the future of European defense and if European states spend more, Germany is in favor of this spending not being taken into account in the calculations of European budget deficits”. A line that Italy has long supported and is shared by von der Leyen.
On Ukraine, Scholz was keen to point out that “we are not at peace yet, but in the midst of a war that Russia is still waging". According to the Chancellor, Ukraine "cannot accept everything that is presented to it, under any conditions". Scholz, however, has put the brakes on sending EU troops to Ukrainian territory, as has the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk while British Prime Minister Starmer had expressed himself in favour of sending peacekeeping troops.
Giorgia Meloni's line
The Italian Prime Minister also shares Tusk and Scholz's opinion Giorgia Meloni which would have underlined that this is not the path to take. The deployment of European soldiers in Ukraine it is considered by the Prime Minister to be a complex path and an ineffective solution. For Meloni the central issues remain security guarantees for Ukraine, because without these every negotiation risks failure.
According to the Prime Minister, other avenues should be explored that also include the involvement of the United States, because it is in the Euro-Atlantic context that European and American security is founded.
Ukraine: Summit begins in Saudi Arabia
Today in Riyadh there is an appointment between a US delegation, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and high-ranking Russian officials, starting with Foreign Minister Lavrov. This is not a negotiation on Ukraine, US sources have reported, but a first resumption of contact between the two nuclear superpowers ahead of an upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin.
The US delegation will then meet separately with representatives of Kiev. The President Volodymyr Zelensky (yesterday he was in the Emirates and today he will be in Ankara) tomorrow he is also expected in Riyadh for a visit to Saudi Arabia. As for the possibility of opening the Mineral resources of Ukraine to the United States according to Zelensky should be accompanied by a written agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelensky announced the visit to Ukraine of Donald Trump's envoy for Russia and Ukraine, retired general Keith Kellogg, who will arrive in Kiev on Thursday, February 20.
Moscow: Vile attacks on President Mattarella continue
Finally, Moscow's attacks on the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who had compared Russian expansionism to the politics of the Third Reich, do not subside. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry in a televised speech said that the words pronounced by the head of state in a lecture at the University of Marseille "cannot remain without consequences". No comment came from the Quirinale.
