{"id":612272,"date":"2025-12-04T19:41:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/612272\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T19:41:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:41:35","slug":"macron-reportedly-warned-zelenskyy-us-may-betray-ukraine-on-territory-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/612272\/","title":{"rendered":"Macron reportedly warned Zelenskyy US may \u2018betray Ukraine on territory\u2019 | Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Emmanuel Macron has reportedly warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that \u201cthere is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory, without clarity on security guarantees\u201d, the German magazine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/politik\/ukraine-verhandlungen-europaeer-misstrauen-trumps-friedensplan-a-7a439009-716d-48de-bda6-5d3926d8dbc3\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Der Spiegel reported<\/a>, quoting a leaked note from a recent call with several European leaders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Der Spiegel said it had obtained an English summary of Monday\u2019s call, featuring what it said were direct quotations from European heads of government in which they expressed fundamental doubts about Washington\u2019s approach to the talks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The French president described the current tense phase of the negotiations as harbouring \u201ca big danger\u201d for Ukraine\u2019s embattled president, according to the summary. Germany\u2019s chancellor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/friedrich-merz\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Friedrich Merz<\/a>, reportedly added that the Ukrainian leader needed to be \u201cvery careful\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThey are playing games with both you and us,\u201d Merz was reported as telling him \u2013 a remark the magazine concluded was a reference to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/dec\/02\/witkoff-in-moscow-for-talks-as-putin-claims-to-have-taken-key-ukrainian-city\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a diplomatic mission to Moscow this week<\/a> by President Donald Trump\u2019s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The magazine said other leaders also voiced their concerns, with Finland\u2019s Alexander Stubb, who has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/mar\/30\/trump-putin-ukraine-ceasefire-interview-alexander-stubb-finland\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bonded with Trump over golf<\/a>, reportedly warning \u201cwe must not leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Even the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte \u2013 who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/video\/2025\/jun\/25\/trump-daddy-nato-summit-mark-rutte-israel-iran-video\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in public is very complimentary of Trump<\/a> \u2013 reportedly said he agreed with Stubb \u201cthat we need to protect Volodymyr\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Der Spiegel said it spoke with \u201cseveral\u201d participants of the call, who confirmed it took place, and two of them reportedly said the remarks were \u201caccurately reproduced\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A spokesperson for Zelenskyy declined to comment, as did Merz\u2019s office, while the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace contested the quotes attributed to Macron. Der Spiegel said Rutte\u2019s office had declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The magazine produced a report in German and <a href=\"https:\/\/derspiegel.substack.com\/p\/we-must-not-leave-ukraine-and-volodymyr\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">separately published an English version<\/a>, saying it contained original quotes from the summary note.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Last month, Washington <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/nov\/19\/us-and-russian-officials-draft-new-peace-plan-based-on-capitulation-from-ukraine\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">presented a 28-point proposal to halt the war in Ukraine<\/a>, drafted without input from Ukraine\u2019s European allies and criticised as too close a reflection of Moscow\u2019s maximalist demands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A flurry of diplomacy has followed, with US and Ukrainian negotiators holding talks in Geneva and Florida before Witkoff and Kushner headed to Moscow on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The pair spent five hours in talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/dec\/04\/trump-ukraine-peace-envoys-prepare-meet-kyiv-official\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Witkoff is due to meet Ukraine\u2019s national security council chief, Rustem Umerov, in Miami<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said in parliament on Thursday that an imposed peace would be \u201cdisastrous\u201d not only for Kyiv but also Europe\u2019s security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He called on European nations not to let up in their support for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ukraine\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-14\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-rsfwa\">Sign up to This is Europe<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1xjndtj\">The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans \u2013 from identity to economics to the environment<\/p>\n<p><strong>Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\" target=\"_blank\">theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/help\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-14\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cA dictated peace would be disastrous for Europe \u2026 because a Ukraine which is militarily beaten or potentially even defeated at the negotiating table (or) destabilised domestically through Russian influence, would put Europe\u2019s security at risk,\u201d Pistorius said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faz.net\/aktuell\/politik\/ausland\/faz-gastbeitrag-von-friedrich-merz-russisches-vermoegen-fuer-die-ukraine-nutzen-110796208.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guest column<\/a> for the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Merz argued for the use of frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine, and said Europe appeared to be largely on its own in protecting its interests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe question of European independence is being decided today, when our security interests are under threat. And it will be decided by whether we rise to this challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe are sending a signal of European independence, a signal that we Europeans decide and shape what happens on our continent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Merz stressed that \u201cwe cannot leave it to other, non-European countries to decide what happens to the financial resources of an aggressor that have been lawfully frozen within the jurisdiction of our constitutional state and in our own currency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWhat we decide now will determine the future of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emmanuel Macron has reportedly warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that \u201cthere is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[2000,299,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-612272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115663004294920414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}