EU looks to get on front foot after 'friendly' push

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Ukraine and the European Union would be part of any "real negotiations" to end the Ukraine crisis that has already lasted almost three years, suggesting that the US president's telephone talk with the Russian leader on Wednesday was to see how serious he was about peace.

But that statement didn't come until one European leader after another expressed their objection to the United States' move. "There will be no credible and successful negotiations, no lasting peace, without Ukraine and without the European Union" involved in the talks, said President of the European Council António Costa.

Rubio's remark came on Sunday, the last day of the Munich Security Conference. Before that, the new US administration had already claimed that negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis would start "immediately". On Friday, US Congressman Michael McCaul, who was attending the conference, revealed that Rubio and other officials are to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss issues related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The US' move is widely interpreted as an attempt to "unilaterally" negotiate in the Ukraine crisis without Europe, of which Ukraine is a part.

The EU foreign ministers held a meeting on Sunday for a discussion before closing the Munich Security Conference, on which Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen tweeted that Europe "unitedly supports Ukraine" and "is strongly committed to the defense of the free world".

That defensive posture might be better facing westwards against those claiming to be in the same camp.

As Polish Foreign Minister Rados?aw Sikorski said at the Munich forum, the US president has a method of operating called "reconnaissance through battle: You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position. ... And we need to respond".

That response needs to be united and quick. That is why French President Emmanuel Macron hosted an emergency summit in Paris on Monday, saying the meeting could lead to other formats "with the objective of gathering all partners interested in peace and European security".