Security officials and heads of governments stress that Ukraine ought to be involved in peace talks, after the US moved to start negotiations with Moscow. Follow DW for the latest.

European top diplomats stand for a group photo during a meeting on European defence and Ukraine at the Quai d’Orsay in Paris.
European leaders are reacting to Trump’s shock talks with Russia’s Putin on UkraineImage: Christophe Petit-Tesson/dpa/EPA/AP/picture alliance

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told a public radio station that peace was at stake and ‘Europeans need to brought in’
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Politico deal to end the war should not be imposed on Ukraine
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said any final deal to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine needs to be ‘enduring’
NATO defense ministers are to discuss military expenditure and the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting in Brussels
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says President Donald Trump’s talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were “certainly not a betrayal” of Ukraine
Below you can find events concerning Russia’s war in Ukraine from February 13, 2025:
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No decision should be made over Ukraine’s ‘head,’ Baerbock says
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “no decisions should be made over Ukraine’s head,” after US President Donald Trump said he agreed with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to “immediately” start negotiations on Ukraine’s future.

Speaking to Deutschlandfunk public radio on Thursday, Baerbock stressed the need for strong security guarantees for Ukraine in order to secure a long term peace truce.

“It is not peace if what happened in 2014 happens, a preparation for an even more brutal offensive,” Baerbock said, referring to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula . “That’s why we need security guarantees that work.”

Baerbock was asked whether she was considering sending German troops to secure a potential ceasefire. She said it was absolutely clear that no troops could be sent alone “if there is no security at all.”

The top diplomat however floated the idea of a United Nations-backed “Blue Helmet” mission involving troops from other countries and approved by the UN Security Council.

Peace must not be ‘imposed’ on Ukraine, Germany’s Scholz says
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that peace must not be imposed on Ukraine, just as much as any solution must involve the United States.

Speaking in an interview with Politico released on Thursday, Scholz said: “The next task is to ensure that there is no imposed peace.” He added that “it is very clear to me that there must be no solution that does not also involve the US.”

Though the statements were released after US President Trump’s controversial call with Russia’s Putin, Politico clarified that the interview was conducted on Wednesday morning, before Trump said he had agreed with Putin to start negotiations to end the Ukraine war “immediately.” .