Ukraine-Russia war latest: European leaders ‘throwing temper tantrum’ over Ukraine talks
17 Feb 2025
European leaders are throwing a “temper tantrum” over being frozen out of early Ukraine peace talks, a former Trump national security official said.
Referring to an emergency meeting of Ukraine’s European allies in Paris today, called in response to US intervention, Fred Fleitz told the BBC: “I don’t know what the purpose of this summit is.”
“The fact that European leaders are not involved is not an emergency. It seems to be FOMO – fear of missing out.”
“I think European leaders are simply throwing a temper tantrum that they’re not meeting with Putin today, that they’re not gonna be involved in meetings with Zelensky.”
Mr Fleitz is a former CIA analyst and vice chairman of the America First Policy Institute think tank. He was a key Trump adviser during the US president’s first term, serving as chief of staff of the US national security council.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, is due to attend the talks in the French capital, after announcing on Sunday that he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force.
On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine, said Europe would not be directly involved in talks on Ukraine between Washington and Moscow, which are expected to begin in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.