Europe scrambles in Paris as Trump's Putin talks sideline NATO allies

On Monday, European leaders attended a hastily-arranged emergency meeting in Paris, after being excluded from an upcoming summit on Ukraine in Riyadh between officials from the United States and Russia.

Just last week, it emerged that the U.S. President Donald Trump had a long conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the U.S. then saying that negotiations to stop the "ridiculous war" in Ukraine would begin "immediately" – and while Trump informed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy of his plan, he too says he hasn't been invited to join Tuesday's high-level talks in Saudi Arabia.

That phone call between Trump and Putin blindsided NATO allies, with leaders from France, Germany, Britain, Poland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, along with heads of the European Council, NATO's Secretary General and the head of European Commission, holding closed-door crisis talks in the French capital, with Ursula von der Leyen saying that "Europe's security is at a turning point".

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to meet President Trump over the coming days and has committed to putting British troops on the ground in Ukraine. 

"I do not say that lightly, I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm's way," Starmer wrote in the Telegraph newspaper. "But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine's security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country."

This idea was first floated by France's President Emmanuel Macron in February 2024, while Sweden is also saying it won't rule out sending troops to Ukraine in a peacekeeping capacity.

This Trump-Putin relationship is clearly causing panic and forcing Europe to rethink its security strategy. The continent remains heavily reliant on U.S. military support and if Trump distances the U.S. from European affairs, nations like Germany and Poland may feel compelled to ramp up their defense efforts independently.

For European members of NATO the future suddenly looks very uncertain. Since the foundation of the alliance, Europe has relied on the American nuclear umbrella, the deployment of sizeable U.S. military contingents in Europe and the vast U.S. defense budget and weapons pipeline.

This Trump-Putin relationship is clearly causing panic in Europe and making EU leaders rethink their defense strategy. After the meeting wrapped up, German chancellor Olaf Scholz called for flexible rules of funding to support Kyiv, adding that the European Union must not be divided over the plan for Ukraine.

And while talks will continue in Paris at a lower level on Tuesday, all eyes will be on Saudi Arabia as Europe watches on to see what comes out of meetings between Russian and U.S. officials, as EU leaders scramble to find ways to sufficiently protect the continent going forward.