European leaders have demanded Kyiv's involvement in Russia-U.S. talks to end the war in Ukraine after an emergency summit in Paris. The leaders expressed a willingness to boost defense spending and considered putting peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, as U.S. and Russian officials meet in Saudi Arabia.
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00:00A show of unity among Europe's military powers, gathering at the Elysee Palace in Paris for
00:06an emergency summit on the war in Ukraine.
00:09The last-minute meeting was called by French President Emmanuel Macron, as Europe attempts
00:13to secure a spot at the negotiation table after the US moved to begin peace talks with
00:17Russia, sidelining the continent and excluding Ukraine.
00:21EU leaders are concerned that US President Donald Trump is giving too many concessions
00:38to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, early in the negotiation process.
00:44Maintaining their resolve, the European leaders are reinforcing their continued support for
00:48Ukraine, expressing a willingness to help boost the country's defences.
01:06British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reinforced that, recognising it's a new era under Trump
01:11and Europe needs to take responsibility for its own security.
01:16Starmer is set to travel to Washington next week to meet with the US leader.
01:19Starmer said the regional bloc is considering providing Ukraine with military backup.
01:37But to achieve that, Starmer, among many others, warned there must be a meaningful US security
01:42guarantee put in place to ensure Russia won't reignite the conflict.
01:47Meanwhile, Russian officials have arrived in Saudi Arabia for a meeting with a US delegation
01:51– the country's first gathering in the nearly three years since Russia invaded Ukraine.
01:57US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are expected
02:02to discuss avenues to end the conflict.
02:05But when asked about their ideal result from the talks, Russia seemed focused on stabilising
02:09its relationship with the US.
02:26Those talks could lay the groundwork for a meeting between Trump and Putin in as soon
02:30as the coming days.
02:33And as those negotiations get underway, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated
02:38he would reject any outcome of discussions that don't involve Kyiv.
02:42He is now in Turkey and will visit Saudi Arabia in the coming days for separate meetings,
02:47rallying support for Kyiv in the face of potentially diminished US back-in.
02:52John Su and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.