Ex-Defense Chief Wants Europe in Ukraine Peace Talks

(MENAFN) A “European power” with a “stake in the outcome” must be permitted to participate in any peace summit involving Russia, the United States, and Ukraine, according to former UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet “in the coming days.”

Washington has expressed optimism that this meeting might pave the way for a trilateral peace summit including the US, Russia, and Ukraine.

However, Putin has emphasized that the conditions for a meeting with Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky remain “far off.”

Wallace told a news outlet on Thursday that it has already been made clear by the White House that European countries “won’t be invited.”

He insisted that the countries “with skin in the game” should be involved in the “peacemaking process.”

Serving as UK defense secretary from 2019 to 2023, Wallace has been a vocal supporter of providing British military aid to Ukraine — a move that Moscow claims implicates the UK in the conflict.

France and the UK have also increasingly advocated for deploying ‘peacekeeping troops’ to support Ukraine’s heavily impacted ground forces if a ceasefire is achieved, as part of a ‘coalition of the willing.’

Russia has responded by warning that such a deployment would be viewed as military intervention, and that any NATO forces involved would be considered hostile.

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