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US envoy makes remarks during Munich Security Conference

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Zelenksiy says Europe can no longer bank on US protection

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US asks Europeans for contributions to Ukraine guarantees

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G7 foreign ministers vow to seek durable Ukraine peace

with

security guarantees

By Andrew Gray, Lili Bayer and John Irish

MUNICH, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Europe won't have a seat at

the table for Ukraine peace talks, Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy

said on Saturday, after Washington sent a questionnaire to

European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security

guarantees for Kyiv.

Trump shocked European allies this week by calling Russian

President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kyiv

beforehand and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.

Trump administration officials have also made clear in

recent days that they expect European allies in NATO to take

primary responsibility for the region as the U.S. now has other

priorities, such as border security and countering China.

The U.S. moves have stoked fears that Europeans may be cut

out of a peace deal that would also impact their own security,

particularly if it is seen as too favourable to Russia.

The U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, told a global

security conference in Munich that the U.S. would act as an

intermediary in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two

protagonists.

Asked about the prospects of the Europeans being at the

table, Kellogg said: "I'm (from) a school of realism. I think

that's not gonna happen."

At a later event at the conference, Kellogg sought to

reassure Europeans by declaring this did not mean "their

interests are not considered, used or developed".

But European leaders said they would not accept being shut out

of the talks.

"There's no way in which we can have discussions or

negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine's future or European

security structure, without Europeans," Finland's President

Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich.

"But this means that Europe needs to get its act together.

Europe needs to talk less and do more."

Stubb said the questionnaire the U.S. sent to Europeans

"will force Europeans to think".

A European diplomat said the U.S. document included six

questions with one specifically for European Union member

states.

"The Americans are approaching European capitals and asking

how many soldiers they are ready to deploy," one diplomat said.

France is discussing with its allies the possibility of

holding an informal meeting among European leaders on Ukraine to

discuss these matters, although nothing has been decided at this

stage, a French presidency official said on Saturday.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said it would take

place on Monday.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also urged Europeans to

get their act together.

"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

(defence) spending," he said in Munich.

Kellogg told the conference that talks aimed at ending the

war between Russia and Ukraine could focus on territorial

concessions from Russia and targeting Putin's oil revenues.

"Russia is really a petrostate," he said, adding that

Western powers needed to do more regarding effectively enforcing

sanctions on Russia.

EUROPEAN ARMY?

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for the

creation of a European army, saying the continent could no

longer be sure of protection from the United States and would

only get respect from Washington with a strong military.

Zelenskiy said Kyiv would never accept a deal made behind its

back, and predicted Putin would try to have Trump attend

Moscow's May 9 World War Two victory anniversary parade "not as

a respected leader but as a prop in his own performance".

In an impassioned speech, Zelenskiy said an address by U.S. Vice

President JD Vance to the conference the previous day had made

clear the relationship between Europe and the United States was

changing.

"Let's be honest - now we can't rule out the possibility that

America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it," said

Zelenskiy, speaking as the war triggered by Russia's invasion of

his country is set to enter its fourth year.

He said a European army - which would include Ukraine - was

necessary so that the continent's "future depends only on

Europeans - and decisions about Europeans are made in

Europe".

European nations cooperate militarily primarily within NATO,

but governments have so far rejected various calls for the

creation of a single European army over the years, arguing that

defence is a matter of national sovereignty.

A senior official from an eastern member state of the

European Union responded sceptically to Zelenskiy's proposal for

a European army, saying: "There is a European military force

called NATO."

In a sign that there is still some degree of international

cooperation in the new Trump era, G7 foreign ministers -

including the U.S. - agreed on Saturday on a statement in which

they pledged to continue working together to get a durable peace

deal for Ukraine with robust security guarantees.

(Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Kyiv, Alan Charlish

in Warsaw, Andreas Rinke in Munich, Angelo Amante in Rome, Phil

Blenkinsop in Brussels and Charlotte Van Campenhout in

Amsterdam; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mark Heinrich,

Gareth Jones and Daniel Wallis)