Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Peace

Russia, Ukraine take ‘significant first step toward peace’ after Rubio-led negotiations, White House insists

Initial discussions between Trump administration officials and Russia in Saudi Arabia Tuesday marked a “significant milestone” in securing peace between Russia and Ukraine, according to the White House press secretary.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to provide specifics about the discussions, but she said the Trump administration was committed to brokering a peace deal to end the conflict between the two countries.

“What I will tell you is that today, sitting down at the table was a significant first step toward peace,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

‘MAKE NATO GREAT AGAIN’: HEGSETH PUSHES EUROPEAN ALLIES TO STEP UP DEFENSE EFFORTS

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration was committed to brokering a peace deal to end the conflict between the two countries. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday that an invitation to the talks wasn’t extended to Ukraine and that he was postponing a scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia until March.

Zelenskyy has stressed that Ukraine must be involved in negotiations, and said Sunday that Ukraine wouldn’t accept a peace deal if his country were absent from negotiations.

But Leavitt said that everyone would have a seat at the negotiating table — including other European allies — as the Trump administration seeks to advance a peace deal.

“We’re ensuring that all parties are heard,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox New’s “America Reports” Tuesday. “But you have to speak to both sides of the war in order to truly negotiate a deal and problem solve. And this is a significant first step toward peace.”

TOP RUSSIAN, US OFFICIALS MEET IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BEGIN TALKS ON UKRAINE WAR WITHOUT OFFICIALS FROM KYIV

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, sits next to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, right, and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 18, 2025. (The Associated Press)

Leavitt said that President Donald Trump was in correspondence with Zelenskyy, and spoke with other European allies like French President Emmanuel Macron Monday. Additionally, she said that Trump will meet with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House next week.

Trump and Zelenskky also spoke over the phone Wednesday about the negotiations, and Zelenskyy said he relayed that he believes Putin isn’t interested in peace with Ukraine.

“I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’”

While Zelenskyy voiced gratitude for U.S. support, he said that there is no “leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us, about us.”

“I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on “Meet the Press.”

PUTIN’S A ‘LITTLE BIT SCARED’ OF TRUMP AS NATIONS BEGIN PEACE TALKS, ZELENSKYY SAYS

President Donald Trump (center), Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). (Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images | Contributor/Getty Images | Scott Olson/Getty Images)

But Trump has offered reassurances that Zelenskyy would be involved in peace conversations, and told reporters Sunday on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida that Ukraine would get a seat at the negotiating table.

The first action the U.S. plans to take following the meetings with Russian officials is to “reestablish the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and in Moscow,” Rubio told reporters from The Associated Press and CNN.

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“For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” Rubio said, according to a State Department transcript.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again.

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 18, 2025
Zelenskyy faces perilous re-election odds as US, Russia push Ukraine to go to the polls as part of peace deal

Nearly one year past the expiration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first five-year term, the U.S. and Russia are in agreement that Ukrainians must go to the polls and decide whether to keep their head of state.

Russia has insisted it will not sign a peace agreement until Ukraine agrees to hold elections, and the U.S. is now “floating” the idea of a three-stage plan: ceasefire, then Ukrainian elections, then inking of a peace deal.

Zelenskyy’s term in office was supposed to end last May, with elections originally slated for April 2024. But the president’s aides have said elections will not be held until six months after the end of martial law. The Ukrainian constitution prohibits holding elections under martial law.

With his popularity having plummeted nearly 40% since the war’s outbreak, Zelenskyy’s future could be in jeopardy if peace is reached and elections are triggered.

US, RUSSIAN OFFICIALS PROPOSE PEACE PLAN, LAY ‘GROUNDWORK FOR COOPERATION’ IN RIYADH

Putin has said he won’t sign a peace agreement unless Ukraine agrees to hold elections. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool)

Earlier this month, Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Washington wants Kyiv to hold elections, possibly by the end of the year, as soon as a peace deal is brokered.

Zelenskyy shot back that Ukrainians were alarmed by such statements.

“It is very important for Kellogg to come to Ukraine. Then he would understand the people and all our circumstances,” Zelenskyy said, in comments to The Guardian.

Other U.S. politicians called for Ukraine to have its elections on schedule last year.

AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA RELEASED AS OFFICIALS WORK TO SET UP POTENTIAL TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING

Ukraine advocates say post-war elections would be a far better option, but elections offer Russia an opportunity to sow chaos.

“The only person that benefits from elections before there’s a durable peace deal is Putin,” said Andrew D’Anieri, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “The Kremlin loves elections, not in their own country, but elsewhere, because it provides an opportunity to destabilize things.”

Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko also claimed that Ukrainian authorities would have an election before the end of the year. “Write it down – Oct. 26 this year,” he said in a recent interview.

But Davyd Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, denied Poroshenko’s claim in a Telegram post.

Zelenskyy has resisted lifting martial law to be able to hold elections. (Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo)

“During martial law, elections are impossible to hold […] The leaders of all parties have agreed that elections will not be held until at least six months after the end of martial law,” Arakhamia said.

Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019 who amassed his fortunes in the confectionary business, lost out to Zelenskyy in his bid for a second term. Seen as a possible contender for a rematch, Poroshenko previously opposed holding elections before the war’s conclusion, arguing Putin would use propaganda to undermine them.

But some have begun to question whether Zelenskyy could survive a re-election campaign.

Zelenskyy saw approval rates soar to 90% at the onset of the war in 2022, but took a dip to around 50%, according to a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll of 2,000 respondents in December.

“Zelenskyy’s prospects to win the elections are contingent upon the exact terms of the ceasefire, namely, the public perception of them as a ‘victory,’ ‘honorable draw’ or ‘defeat,’” said Ivan Gomza, public policy professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. “The cessation of hostilities are hardly plausible in 2025. Moreover, elections require preparations… elections are very unlikely until at least 2026.

U.S. officials were in Riyadh to meet with their Russian counterparts on a peace agreement on Tuesday. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool)

“Zelensky is unlikely to win the elections, if they were to be held in Ukraine, because his popularity dropped significantly at the end of 2024,” said Russian-born U.S. intelligence expert Rebekah Koffler. “Ukrainians are exhausted by the war and many have come to the realization that it’s unwinnable for Ukraine.”

“The Russians, in turn, will almost certainly run clandestine operations to influence the elections in order to elect a pro-Russian candidate,” Koffler added.

Zelenskyy has also lost his main benefactor from the first election, Ihor Kolomoyski, who was indicted in both the U.S. and Ukraine on charges of money laundering and bank fraud.

Zelenskyy’s main opponent is expected to be Valerii Zaluzhnyi, a four-star general and the current ambassador to the United Kingdom. Zelenskyy fired Zaluzhnyi as head of the armed forces last year in a major – and politically unpopular – shakeup. Zaluzhny had claimed the war with Russia had reached a stalemate in late 2023.

PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others attend a meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on Feb. 14, 2025. (Olha Tanasiichuk/Ukrinform/ABACAPRESS.COM)

Russia, though it insists on elections as part of negotiations, is not likely to win a more favorable, pro-Russia Ukrainian government in any outcome of an election.

“All the frontrunners in the election will be pro-Western, pro-European candidates who want to defend the country against Russia and probably agree on most matters, including on foreign affairs and defense, but have their own kind of domestic political issues where they differ,” said D’Anieri.

“The only people that come anywhere close to Zelenskyy in the polls are people like General Zaluzhnyi, with really established, patriotic credentials in Ukraine,” said Henry Hale, professor at George Washington University who specializes in public opinion in Ukraine. “Any of the pro-Russian forces don’t really have much standing there.”

Zelenskyy banned 11 political parties over ties to Russia in 2022. Many of the nation’s pro-Russia lawmakers have fled over the border – and four MPs were stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship over ties to Russia in 2023.

Some lawmakers who belonged to the outlawed political groups simply switched party affiliations. And faced with a dwindling coalition without elections to replace members of parliament who switch jobs or join the military, Zelenskyy has since been forced to rely on members of parliament who were previously part of the now-banned pro-Russia parties for votes.

Hale predicted that if an election were held before a peace deal had been inked, it would boost Zelenskyy’s chances of re-election.

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“Even though there are a lot of people in Ukraine who don’t think that he’s done the best job managing the war effort, there’s still a very strong push in the population to rally support around him as the symbol of the resistance.

“A lot of people who are actually critical of him would still vote for him, just so as not to risk changing horses in midstream,” Hale went on. “If you get a peace deal, it has credible security guarantees in it, then, yeah, afterwards they have elections, and you might see some real strong competition.

“And I think at that point it becomes a very open question whether or not Zelenskyy would win.”

February 18, 2025
Russian officials make ultimatums on NATO, Ukraine as Saudi Arabia peace talks begin

U.S. and Russian officials held peace talks in Saudi Arabia without any Ukrainian officials present on Tuesday.

Russia’s foreign ministry issued several ultimatums as the talks began early Tuesday morning. Russian officials noted that Ukrainian membership in NATO is unacceptable, and they said a simple refusal by NATO to allow Ukraine to join is not a sufficient protection. Instead, Russian officials said NATO must disavow promises of Ukrainian membership in NATO made during a 2008 summit in Bucharest.

The groups, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, are seeking terms for a peace agreement in Ukraine as well as negotiating a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two groups broke for a working lunch at roughly 2 p.m. local time.

PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS

Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via REUTERS/Leah Millis/Alina Smutko)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country would never accept peace terms negotiated by the U.S. and Russia without Ukrainian involvement. Trump has vowed that Ukraine will be involved in the larger process.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff emphasized on Sunday that the ongoing meeting in Riyadh is more about “trust building” than getting into the details of an actual peace agreement.

Zelenskyy urged Trump not to trust Putin in a phone call last week.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Russian counterparts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

“I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy said of the call. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’”

FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY

The Ukrainian leader nevertheless said he believes Putin is a “little bit scared” of Trump.

Also excluded from Tuesday’s talks are any European representatives, a notable absence given the stern rebuke of European allies delivered by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference last week.

The war in Ukraine continues to rage as fledgling peace talks take place in Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/LIBKOS, File)

Some European allies are taking the cue, with U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer announcing that he is willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to ensure its security as part of a peace deal.

“I do not say that lightly,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”

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“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,” he added.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 18, 2025
Europe would only become ‘obstacle’ to Russia-Ukraine peace talks, expert says

The Trump administration’s potential plan to exclude European allies from negotiations to end the war in Ukraine has caused panic among the continent’s leaders but may be the only way to finally resolve the conflict, an expert tells Fox News Digital.

“Trump’s likely rationale for excluding European allies out of direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations is this. First, there’s no agreement among NATO members on the NATO membership for Ukraine. Some are for it and some are against. So it would be a waste of time to add this obstacle to the talks. Second, the Europeans don’t add anything to the talks,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst, former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital.

“They [Europeans] are not decision-makers here. The only ‘deciders’ – using George Bush’s famous phrase – here are Putin and Trump. And even more accurately it’s Putin,” Koffler added. “He holds all the cards, given the realities on the battlefield and outside of it.”

The comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts an “emergency meeting” of European leaders Monday to discuss President Donald Trump’s potential plan to largely exclude them from negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a move that has caused anxiety on a continent that believes it has a vital stake in determining the terms of any settlement.

Despite the uncertainty for European leaders, Trump has insisted that Ukraine will be involved in any talks to end the conflict.

TRUMP ADDRESSES UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE TALKS, SAYS ZELENSKYY WILL BE INVOLVED

Macron has reportedly called a special meeting about Trump. (Getty Images/ AP Images)

“He will be involved, yes,” Trump said Sunday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, Politico reported Monday that Macron and Trump had a “frank” 20-minute discussion just before the meetings in Paris were held, though the details of that discussion are still unclear.

The emergency meeting is being held after a security conference over the weekend in Munich, Germany, where Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, hinted European leaders may not be allowed to take part in a deal the U.S. helps broker between Ukraine and Russia.

Asked about Europe’s potential role in resolving the conflict during the conference, Kellogg indicated such involvement “is not going to happen,” arguing he was “from the school of realism” and that adding the Europeans to the mix may only serve to add too many voices to the discussion.

“What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,” Kellogg said, adding that Trump is hoping to have a resolution to the conflict within “days and weeks.”

“You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I’m not talking six months,” he said.

Koffler believes that Trump shares a similar realism, a dose of reality she believes has been lacking from media coverage of the war.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE ‘ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE’

“President Trump is a realist and he understands that Ukraine has lost the war. In fact, Ukraine lost the war before it started,” Koffler said. “Russia holds massive, massive combat potential advantage over Ukraine. Always has, always will. I’ve been saying it for three years. It’s a shame that the Biden administration, assisted by the mainstream media, has created a alternate reality, lying to the American people that Ukraine was winning or could win, just like they lied about so many other things.”

“But any serious and honest military intelligence analyst who is not on the payroll of the U.S.-NATO military-industrial complex or of the Zelenskyy’s regime, and who isn’t afraid to go against the media’s party line, known as the editorial line, has known from the very start how this war will end,” she added.

Trump said Ukraine President Zelenskyy would be involved in talks to end the conflict. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

But Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for the Obama administration, cautioned against excluding European allies from the discussions, arguing that a deal without their involvement is “unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict.”

“President Trump is right to seek an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and he should be applauded for his efforts. Yet by staking out a role for the United States to be the indispensable negotiator in the war, he risks creating major commitments, as this is not America’s war and we are now being inserted directly into it,” Rubin told Fox News Digital. “In analogous diplomatic situations, such as the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, we clinched a deal only after providing major commitments to both parties in the form of economic assistance and military aid, totaling well past $100 billion so far.”

While Rubin acknowledged that inclusion of European leaders would be more “complex initially,” the payoff would be to “spread the costs” of any guarantees that arise from negotiations.

EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

“And of course, because Europe is directly impacted by Russia’s belligerence, any deal that’s finalized will need their support (in addition to Ukraine’s), otherwise it’s unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict, instead turning these negotiations into just one more stalled diplomatic effort of the many that have taken place in this war since it truly began in 2014,” Rubin said.

Macron’s emergency meeting in Paris is expected to be attended by a host of European leaders, according to Politico, including Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Poland’s Donald Tusk and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

But Koffler believes Trump is the only leader in a position to handle what are sure to be difficult negotiations, where none of the world’s leaders will have any leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his address to the nation in Moscow on March 23, 2024. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump is the only U.S. leader who has the courage to acknowledge the obvious – he is not afraid of being blamed for losing the war and handing Putin victory. Which the Democrats and the neocons will almost certainly do,” Koffler said.

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“It is why Trump is offering to Putin pretty much everything Putin wanted – no NATO for Ukraine, Russia keeps the eastern portion of Ukraine and Crimea, no U.S. boots on the ground in Ukraine, and even potentially membership in G-8 – all to save whatever is left of Ukraine and Ukrainians, to entice Putin to the negotiating table,” she added. “Putin doesn’t have to stop the war. In fact, I don’t rule out the possibility that he will not accept anything Trump has to offer.”

“The negotiations will be super complicated to begin with. Putin will almost certainly be playing hard ball. And we’ve got very little leverage over Russia. Inviting Europeans would serve no purpose and would only make an already tenuous peace deal impossible to achieve.”

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

February 17, 2025
Trump addresses Ukraine-Russia peace talks, says Zelenskyy will be involved

President Donald Trump spoke about his plans to end the Russo-Ukrainian War during a press gaggle on Sunday, stating that he believes the leaders of both countries “want to stop fighting.”

Speaking on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, Trump said that he’s currently in the process of “trying to get peace with Russia, Ukraine.”

“And we’re working very hard on it,” he said. “It’s a war that should have never started.”

When asked if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to be involved in the conversations, Trump replied in the affirmative.

TRUMP DETAILS HIS RECIPROCAL TARIFF PLANS, ASKS FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO ‘TREAT US FAIRLY’: ‘DELIVER RECIPROCITY’

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon arrival in West Palm Beach, Fla., U.S., Sunday. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

“He will be involved, yes,” Trump said. When asked by a reporter, Trump also said he would allow Europeans to purchase American-made weapons sold to Ukraine.

The Republican president went on say that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin, who began the war in February 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and escalated it in February 2022 by invading Ukraine, wants to bring the war to an end.

“I think he wants to stop fighting,” Trump said. “They have a big, powerful machine, you understand that? And they defeated Hitler and they defeated Napoleon. You know, he’s been fighting a long time…I think he would like to stop fighting.”

EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

President Donald Trump steps from Air Force One upon arrival in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

“Zelenskyy wants to end it, too.”

Trump’s comments came shortly after a “Meet the Press” interview with Zelenskyy aired on NBC, in which the Ukrainian leader discussed Putin and claimed that he “fears” Trump.

“I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy said of a recent phone call to Trump. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’”

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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in West Palm Beach, Fla, Sunday. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

“But I think he’s really a little bit scared about the President Trump,” Zelenskyy added. “And I think the president has this chance, and he’s strong. And I think that really, he can push Putin to peace negotiations. Yes, I think so. I think he can, but don’t trust him. Don’t trust Putin. Don’t trust just words about ceasefire.”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Brooke Curto contributed to this report.

Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to [email protected].

February 16, 2025
US Ukraine envoy pulls no punches with Europe on Ukraine, Russia peace talks

President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia hinted that there might not be a place at the table for Europe during peace negotiations with Russia.

Asked if Europeans had a role in talks between Russia and Ukraine, Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said at a security conference in Germany over the weekend that he was “from the school of realism, and that is not going to happen.”

The comments come as Trump presses ahead with plans to negotiate peace between Ukraine and Russia, which includes planned meetings between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia this week.

But European allies might not be included in future talks, Kellogg made clear during his remarks in Munich, arguing that too many voices adds to the risk of derailing negotiations for peace.

EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,” Kellogg said, noting that Trump is pressing to have a deal done within “days and weeks” and not on a longer timetable.

“You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I’m not talking six months,” he said.

The comments come just a day after Vice President JD Vance ripped into European leaders during a speech at the same conference, arguing that European domestic policies limiting free speech were a bigger threat to the continent than Russia.

“The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China. It’s not any other external actor,” he said. “What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”

The remarks by U.S. leaders at the conference have left their European counterparts in shock, according to a report from Reuters, which noted that many European delegates were left worrying about continued U.S. military protection of the continent and the details of a deal brokered in Ukraine with little European involvement.

‘BREATHTAKING SPEED’: TRUMP’S PARIS TRIP MARKS RETURN TO GLOBAL STAGE AS LEADERS TURN ‘THE PAGE’ ON BIDEN

Speaking to Newsweek, Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said she was still “trying to decipher” the meaning of Kellogg’s remarks over the weekend, though admitted that she found them a “concern.”

“This is about Russia, but this is also about Europe,” she said. “It’s also difficult for foreign leaders to be reacting constantly to unsure comments.”

“We feel like Ukraine has to be at the table, and Europe does, too,” she added.

That sentiment was echoed by Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who argued that Europe will have to “act more strongly” in response to the U.S. push.

“If Trump is negotiating with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin about Europe, then it is impossible to talk about Europe without us,” he told NewsWeek.

Macron has reportedly called a special meeting about Trump. (Getty Images | AP Images)

DAVID MARCUS: TRIUMPHANT TRUMP AT NOTRE DAME SIGNALS AMERICA AND THE WEST ARE BACK

French President Emmanuel Macron responded to the developments by calling on European leaders to convene an emergency meeting in Paris, which is expected to center on U.S. efforts to exclude European countries from peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Those expected to be in attendance at the Paris meeting include NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and the leaders of Germany, Italy, the U.K. and Poland, according to a report from the Guardian.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to attend the meetings, though he stressed the importance of keeping the European and U.S. alliance together.

“The U.K. will work to ensure we keep the U.S. and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face,” Starmer said, according to the Guardian report.

Prospects for a peace deal to end Russia’s nearly three-year-old invasion in Ukraine have seemingly intensified in recent weeks, most notably after Trump held separate phone calls with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Keith Kellogg is the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. (Getty Images)

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At a later event at the conference, Kellogg made clear that European interests would still be considered at the bargaining table, noting that the U.S. would simply hope to serve as an intermediary in talks between Russia and Ukraine, the two main protagonists in the conflict.

Meanwhile, Rutte urged European leaders to get serious if they hope to be involved in the peace process.

“And to my European friends, I would say, get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up (defense) spending,” the NATO secretary-general said at the conference.

The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

February 16, 2025
Putin’s a ‘little bit scared’ of Trump as nations begin peace talks, Zelenskyy says

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “little bit scared” of President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview that aired Sunday.

Zelenskyy joined NBC’s “Meet the Press,” recounting that when he spoke to Trump by phone about a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, he told the president that he believes Putin fears the American leader.

“I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy recounted of his phone call to Trump. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.’

“But I think he’s really a little bit scared about the President Trump. And I think the president has this chance, and he’s strong. And I think that really he can push Putin to peace negotiations. Yes, I think so. I think he can, but don’t trust him. Don’t trust Putin. Don’t trust just words about ceasefire,” Zelenskyy told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

Zelenskyy’s interview follows Trump announcing last Wednesday that Putin had agreed to “immediately” begin peace negotiations to end the war. Trump tapped Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to lead negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.

TRUMP SAYS RUSSIA AGREES TO ‘IMMEDIATELY’ BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS TO END WAR IN UKRAINE

Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via Reuters/Leah Millis/Alina Smutko)

PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS

Zelenskyy said during his interview that he trusts Trump’s leadership amid negotiations to end the war that has raged between Russia and Ukraine since 2022, but that he won’t accept a deal that did not include talks with Ukraine.

“I believe and trust only in real steps. And I trust President Trump because he’s the president of the United States, because your people, your people voted for him, and I respect their choice, and I will work with President Trump with trust, which I have to the United States,” Zelenskyy told Welker when asked if he feels Trump values Ukraine at the same level as Russia.

FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with members of the Security Council via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, May 13, 2024. (Aleksey Babushkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo)

“But of course, I want to have [a] real meeting, productive, without just words, with concrete steps, and to hear us, to hear President Trump, to make a common plan, and to share it with allies, then with Russians, and stop this war. I think we need it urgently. We have to do it without basic things, where there are concrete steps.”

Zelenskyy added in his interview that he will not accept any negotiation hashed out by just the U.S. and Russia.

‘NO REASON’ FOR NEW NUKES: TRUMP FLOATS DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH CHINA, RUSSIA

“I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never.… The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses. And we are thankful for all the support, unity between USA – in USA around Ukraine support, bipartisan unity, bipartisan support, we’re thankful for all of this. But there is no… leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us,” he said.

Former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet at Trump Tower in New York City, Sept. 27, 2024. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo)

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Witkoff joined Fox News earlier on Sunday and reported that he and Waltz are heading to Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening to begin negotiations on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

February 16, 2025
How Saudi Arabia’s crown prince became a central player in US-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine

Saudi Arabia has emerged as a central player in the pursuit of a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, in large part due to the political capital it wields with its massive oil reserves.

President Donald Trump suggested Riyadh as a meeting place to kick off face-to-face talks between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin agreed the location was acceptable. To some it might seem a curious choice, but the Middle Eastern kingdom has reasons to involve itself in finding an end to the conflict happening thousands of miles from its borders.

For Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, mediating peace negotiations would help to solidify his standing as a global leader. It also offers him a leg up on Qatar, which was heavily involved in negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Qatar has also, since 2023, helped facilitate the return of dozens of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war.

Trump cited both his and Putin’s relationship with the Saudis in his remarks. “We know the crown prince, and I think it’d be a very good place to be,” he said.

RUSSIAN-AMERICAN BALLERINA ‘IN TRANSIT’ AFTER US SAYS SHE WAS WRONGFULLY DETAINED, BOYFRIEND SAYS

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS)

It’s why Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has taken a front-row seat to the U.S. dealings in Eastern Europe. Witkoff jetted off to Moscow this week and returned home with Marc Fogel, an American teacher who had been detained by the Kremlin on charges of bringing medical marijuana into Russia in 2021. Witkoff credited Prince Mohammed for his “instrumental” role in mediating the release.

Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday he’d designated Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Witkoff to lead peace negotiations but failed to mention the special envoy he originally hired for the task, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg. The post came after he spoke by phone with both Putin and Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy.

The Saudi kingdom is the largest exporter of oil in the world and plays a critical role in setting global prices. Higher oil prices generate more revenue for the Kremlin from Russia’s own exports.

In 2024, Russia made $108.22 billion from oil and gas sales, 26% more than the previous year, according to Reuters.

Trump suggested Riyadh as a meeting place to kick off face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has repeatedly pressed nations in the OPEC alliance to flood the market with oil and lower the global price, believing Russia would be more open to negotiations if its war coffers are hit.

“Right now the price is high enough that that war will continue,” Trump told executives at the World Economic Forum at Davos last month.

“You got to bring down the oil price,” he said. “That will end that war. You could end that war.”

The Trump team is far closer to the Saudis than the Biden administration was, though relations may strain over Trump’s plan to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and into neighboring nations and take over the territory. Still, bin Salman has pledged to invest as much as $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.

FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY

Trump and Zelenskyy (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Trump, who spoke to bin Salman just ahead of his Davos remarks, said he would be asking “the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion.”

The Saudis and Ukraine have a common enemy in Iran, which has long been providing Russia with Shahed drones and other munitions.

“The [Iran-backed] Houthis have deployed Iranian weaponry against Saudi Arabia, targeting critical infrastructure, including oil pipelines and airports,” said Daniel Balson of the advocacy group Razom for Ukraine. “In fact, repeated Houthi attacks against highly urbanized targets like Khamis Mushait in Saudi Arabia have served as a prelude for Russia’s use of drone warfare against Ukrainian cities.”

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In May 2023, bin Salman invited Zelenskyy to speak at a meeting of Arab leaders in Jeddah. Later that year, Zelenskyy and bin Salman held closed-door talks with diplomats from 40 countries on ending the war, but Russia did not participate.

Putin thanked Saudi Arabia in August for its role in negotiating the most extensive prisoner swap since the Cold War, securing the release of 26 people.

February 14, 2025
Vance warns US will use sanctions, military action if Putin doesn’t agree to Ukraine peace deal

Former Marine talks ending the war in Ukraine

U.S. Marine veteran Chad Robichaux joins ‘Fox News @ Night’ to discuss efforts to restore peace in Ukraine and Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as director of national intelligence.

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday reportedly warned that the U.S. wouldn’t rule out tough sanctions or even potential military action against Russia if President Vladimir Putin didn’t come to the negotiating table on a deal that would guarantee peace for Ukraine.

In speaking with The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report on Vance’s comments, the vice president said sending U.S. troops to Ukraine was “on the table” if Russia failed to negotiate in good faith.

Vance said there are “economic tools of leverage [and] there are, of course, military tools of leverage” that the U.S. could use against Putin.

“I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that’s going to shock a lot of people,” Vance told The Journal.

‘NO REASON’ FOR NEW NUKES: TRUMP FLOATS DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH CHINA, RUSSIA

U.S. Vice President JD Vance visits Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site in Dachau, Germany February 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Vance’s comments came a day before the vice president is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich. The discussions will be closely watched by European leaders to gauge where President Trump stands on negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is nearing three years.

President Trump had what he described as a “lengthy” phone call with Putin on Wednesday, which included the Russian leader agreeing to “immediately” begin negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

RUSSIA CLAIMS TRUMP, PUTIN TALK BROUGHT WORLD FROM ‘BRINK OF APOCALYPSE,’ EU WARNS OF ‘DIRTY TRICKS’

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the two leaders “agreed to work together, very closely.”

“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now. I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful.”

President Donald Trump (center), Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). (Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images | Contributor/Getty Images | Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to lead the U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference where the future of Ukraine will be the top item on the agenda.

Trump has been vague about his specific intentions — other than suggesting that a deal will likely result in Ukraine being forced to cede territory that Russia has seized since it annexed Crimea in 2014.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES FRESH DRONE ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE SHORTLY AFTER TRUMP-PUTIN PHONE CALL

“The Ukraine war has to end,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “Young people are being killed at levels that nobody’s seen since World War II. And it’s a ridiculous war.”

Both Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dashed Ukraine’s hopes this week of becoming part of NATO, which the alliance said less than a year ago was “irreversible,” or getting back its territory captured by Russia, which currently occupies close to 20%, including Crimea.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, walks with Britain’s Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (Johanna Geron/Pool Photo via AP)

“I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow … them to join NATO,” Trump said Thursday. “I don’t see that happening.”

When asked what he thought Russia should give up to reach a deal, he noted that talks have not yet begun and that “maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t.”

At NATO headquarters, Hegseth reiterated Thursday that “simply pointing out realism like the borders won’t be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014 is not a concession to Vladimir Putin.” He said it’s a recognition of realities on the ground.

He added, though, that neither Russia nor Ukraine will “get everything that they want” and stressed that “any negotiation that’s had will be had with both.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for a response to Vance’s comments.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

February 14, 2025
Ukraine advocates tear into Hegseth for giving Russia ‘concessions’ at start of peace talks: ‘Biggest gift’

Ukraine advocates are up in arms after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a return to the Eastern European country’s pre-war borders with Russia is “unrealistic.”

Hegseth, speaking to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium on Wednesday, said “returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.” He also called for Europe to offer Ukraine security guarantees after the war – not the U.S.

Pro-Ukraine voices accused the secretary of giving up leverage before the start of peace negotiations with Russia.

“Putin is gonna pocket this and ask for more,” Brett Bruen, director of Global Engagement under the Obama White House, told Fox News Digital.

RUSSIAN MISSILES RAINED DOWN ON KYIV JUST AHEAD OF TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT’S VISIT

Ukraine advocates are up in arms about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments they believe give up leverage before the start of peace negotiations. (DefSec Hegseth on X)

Hegseth said Wednesday that “durable peace” for Ukraine must “ensure that the war will not begin again.”

“The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” he said.

“If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and not covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact. To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.”

While it is little surprise the Trump administration does not currently support Ukraine’s NATO membership, or believe Ukraine can take back all of its territory including Crimea, Ukraine advocates argue that Hegseth vocalizing these beliefs just as President Donald Trump fired the opening salvo in peace negotiations took them off the table as leverage.

“Why would you unilaterally surrender on some of those key strategic issues? Even if Trump ultimately wants to give ground, at least get something in return,” Bruen said.

‘NO BETRAYAL’ IN TRUMP MOVE TOWARD UKRAINE WAR NEGOTIATIONS, HEGSETH SAYS

“Anyone with any diplomatic experience would have said it is critical that we use this as part of our negotiation, as President Trump wants to have with Moscow. But the idea that we’re simply going to announce all of the things that we are not going to do goes against 70 years of our diplomacy and our military strategy.”

Michael McFaul, ambassador to Russia under the Obama administration, asked why the Trump administration appeared to be giving Russian President Vladimir Putin wins for free.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, center, made the comments while meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. (Johanna Geron/Pool Photo via AP)

“Why is the Trump administration giving Putin gifts – Ukrainian land and no NATO membership for Ukraine – before negotiations even begin?” he asked on X. “I’ve negotiated with the Russians. You never give up anything to them for free.”

Alexander Vindman, former Europe director at the National Security Council, characterized Hegseth’s comments as “complete capitulation to Putin” that justifies Russia’s wars of aggression going back to Georgia in 2008.

“This will embolden Putin and undermine the interests of peace in Ukraine and Europe. A major blow to U.S. national security,” Vindman said.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., chimed in that Hegseth’s comments show, “Trump’s foreign policy has always been Russia First. Never America and its allies first.”

The defense secretary also called on Europe to “take ownership of conventional security on the continent.”

HEGSETH WARNS EUROPEANS ‘REALITIES’ OF CHINA AND BORDER THREATS PREVENT US FROM GUARANTEEING THEIR SECURITY

“European allies must lead from the front,” Hegseth said. “Together, we can establish a division of labor that maximize our comparative advantages in Europe and Pacific, respectively.”

His comments came just before Trump called both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv.

On Friday, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The Putin conversation came one day after the release of American Marc Fogel, who had been detained by the Kremlin, which Trump said he saw as a sign of “good faith” by the Russians.

Trump, meanwhile, has begun pressuring Ukrainians to turn over access to rare Earth minerals in exchange for security aid. Bessent presented Ukraine with a draft deal exchanging aid for minerals on Wednesday in Kyiv, according to Zelenskyy.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments came just before President Donald Trump called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pictured here, and as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv. (Photo by Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)

“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday of his call with Putin. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.”

He announced that he would asked Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to lead negotiations.

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Trump also said his call with Zelenskyy went “very well.”

“It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!”

February 13, 2025