MUNICH — Finland’s president on Sunday urged the rearming of Ukraine and putting “maximum pressure on Russia” through sanctions and asset freezes in the run-up to possible negotiations sought by the U.S. on ending the war. France was set to host a meeting to help firm up Europe’s answer to assertive American diplomacy.
Alexander Stubb and other European leaders at the final day of the Munich Security Conference on Sunday sought to firm up how the European Union can move from talk to more action and stay relevant as Washington pushes to stop the fighting. He laid out three phases: “pre-negotiation,” ceasefire and long-term peace negotiation.
“The first phase is the pre-negotiation, and this is a moment when we need to rearm Ukraine and put maximum pressure on Russia, which means sanctions, which means frozen assets, so that Ukraine begins these negotiations from a position of strength,” he said.
There were early signs of efforts for a quick reaction from EU leaders.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron will convene leading European countries for an emergency “working meeting” on Monday in Paris to discuss next steps for Ukraine after the U.S. announcements last week. Barrot spoke on public broadcaster France-Info.
“The president of the Republic will bring together the main European nations tomorrow for discussions on European security,” Barrot said, adding, “These meetings are very frequent.” He emphasized that European leaders remain in “constant contact.”
News reports said Prime Ministers Keir Starmer of Britain, Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, and Donald Tusk of Poland were among those set to attend.
“A wind of unity is blowing over Europe, as we perhaps have not felt since the COVID period,” Barrot added, underscoring the growing sense of cohesion among European allies.
Trump’s diplomatic push setting a pace
U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a quick way out of the Ukraine war has stirred concern and uncertainty in Munich.
After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he and Putin would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine. Trump later assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he also would have a seat at the table. U.S. officials have indicated that European nations, however, would not be involved.
“Don’t underestimate Trump as a negotiator, I genuinely believe that Putin is baffled and afraid what might be coming from there,” Stubb said. “Right now, the ball is in our court here in Europe. We need to convince the Americans where’s the value added, and then get back into the table.”
“I think in Europe we need to talk less and do more,” he added later.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs of Latvia, which like Finland borders Russia, agreed that “if we are strong, if we have something to offer … then we are going to be interesting to the United States. If you are just continue having those nice conferences, talking and whining, then we are not going to be interesting to our own publics very soon.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV on Sunday that the Putin-Trump call was a sign that Washington and Moscow “will now try to solve problems through dialogue and talk about peace, not war.”
Zelenskyy, in a Telegram post on Sunday, said Russia “confirms its desire to continue fighting by striking Ukraine daily,” adding that this week, “almost 1,200 aerial bombs, over 850 strike drones, and more than 40 missiles of various types were launched by the Russians against our people.”
Much more at Munich: Tariffs and trade too
The three-day Munich conference was a hub of crisscrossing diplomacy on issues of politics, economics, and defense and security, with top envoys on hand from places as diverse as Syria and Saudi Arabia, and Japan and South Korea, as well as many European leaders.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy called for the creation of an “ armed forces of Europe ” to better stand up to an expansionist Russia that could threaten the European Union, too.
He also said he directed his ministers not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on U.S. interests.
The proposal was a key part of his talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich event, according to one current and one former senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks. Zelenskyy’s decision not to sign a deal, at least for now, was described as “short-sighted” by a senior White House official.
Also Saturday, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Munich that he has asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to exclude Japan from steel and aluminum tariffs as well as from reciprocal tariff measures.
Iwaya, who had a brief chat with the top U.S. diplomat on the sidelines of the conference, said he also “raised the issue” of auto tariffs, though he gave no further details. If imposed, the impact of auto tariffs on the Japanese auto industry would be huge, experts say.
Associated Press writers Joanna Kozlowska in London, Angela Charlton and Thomas Adamson in Paris and Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report.
