Finland urges leaders to rearm Ukraine as U.S. hints Europe excluded from peace talks

Finland's president on Sunday urged the rearming of Ukraine and putting “maximum pressure on Russia” through sanctions and asset freezes in the lead-up to possible negotiations sought by the U.S. on ending the war.

The comments by Alexander Stubb came as France was set to host a meeting to help firm up Europe's answer to assertive American diplomacy.

On the final day of the Munich Security Conference, Mr. Stubb and other European leaders sought to plot 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 President Emmanuel Macron will convene top European countries in Paris on Monday for an emergency “working meeting” to discuss next steps for Ukraine after the U.S. announcements last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday.

Speaking to public broadcaster France-Info, Mr. Barrot underscored a growing cohesion among European allies and said: “A wind of unity is blowing over Europe, as we perhaps have not felt since the COVID period.”

News reports said that Prime Ministers Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom, Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and Donald Tusk of Poland were among those set to attend the Paris talks.

Trump's diplomatic push stirs concern and uncertainty in Europe 

U.S. President Donald Trump's push for a quick way out of Russia's all-out war in Ukraine, which began nearly three years ago on Feb. 24, 2022, has stirred concern and uncertainty in Munich.

After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said that 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, wouldn't 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 said 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 just continue having those nice conferences, talking and whining, then we are not going to be interesting to our own publics very soon.”

He also noted “a point that probably went unnoticed Friday” in Munich, which was European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's “important announcement” that she would propose a temporary waiver of EU budgetary rules in crisis situations – this time to allow for extra defense spending.

“I can announce that I will propose to activate the ‘escape clause’ for defense investments," she said. "This will allow member states to substantially increase their defense expenditure. Of course, we will have to do this in a controlled and conditional way.”

Much more at Munich: Trump's tariffs and trade policies, 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, Mr. Zelenskyy called for the creation of an “ armed forces of Europe " to better stand up to an expansionist Russia that also could threaten the 27-nation EU.

In an interview with U.S. television network NBC that aired on Sunday, Mr. Zelenskyy ratcheted up his warnings and said that Ukraine had shared intelligence with partners indicating that Putin was “preparing to train 150,000 people mostly on the territory of Belarus.” He also said that Europe has fewer brigades than Russia.

“The risk that Russia will occupy Europe is 100%,” he said in comments to the “Meet the Press” program recorded Friday.

On Saturday, Mr. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press that he had 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. Mr. Zelenskyy’s decision not to sign a deal, at least for now, was described as “shortsighted” by a senior White House official.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Munich on Saturday 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.

Mr. Iwaya, who had a brief chat with the top U.S. diplomat on the sidelines of the conference, said that he also “raised the issue” of automobile tariffs, though he gave no further details. If imposed, the impact of the tariffs on the Japanese auto industry would be huge, experts say.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. Joanna Kozlowska in London, Angela Charlton and Thomas Adamson in Paris, and Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report.