US
secretary of state Marco Rubio has skipped a meeting with European
leaders on the war in Ukraine, in a move seen by European capitals as
signalling Washington’s waning interest in involving them in its efforts
to solve the conflict.
Rubio
was set to attend the meeting with leaders from countries including
Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission in Munich on Friday
afternoon, but cancelled at the last minute because of scheduling
conflicts.
“The
secretary won’t be attending the Berlin Format meeting on Ukraine given
the number of meetings he has happening at the same time,” a US
official said. “He’s engaging on Russia-Ukraine in many of his meetings here in Munich.” One
European official said the cancellation was “insane”. It came as the
Trump administration increasingly distances itself from its European
allies and is seeking to push Ukraine towards a settlement with Russia
to end the almost four-year-long war.
The meeting lacked substance without US participation, a second European official told the FT.
Rubio
did hold talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. A German official
said that Ukraine was the central topic of discussion between Merz and
the US secretary of state. They also spoke about the status of
negotiations with Russia and continued support for Kyiv, particularly
military aid.
Other
issues included Nato and Europe’s role within it. Rubio commended
Germany’s efforts to strengthen the military alliance, the official
said.
After Munich, Rubio will travel to Budapest to meet Hungary’s strongman premier Viktor Orbán, the EU’s most pro-Russian leader, who has blocked efforts to deepen support for Kyiv. A
senior state department official said the Hungarian visit was aimed at
further “strengthening” ties with a European country that, in contrast
with the EU mainstream, shared the Trump administration’s vision for
peace in Ukraine.
Rubio
is set to address the Munich Security Conference, which for years has
acted as an annual barometer of the state of the transatlantic alliance,
on Saturday morning.
European
officials are nervously awaiting the address for signals on President
Donald Trump’s evolving stance towards the US’s historic allies, weeks
after he threatened — and then withdrew that threat — to invade
Greenland.
“It’s
confirming our allies’ worst fears. They’re on their own . . . they’re
reluctantly coming to accept that when Trump says Europe is on its own,
he means it,” US Democratic senator Peter Welch told the FT.
“People
have such a hard time here believing that the country that played this
role in liberating Europe and built the Marshall Plan and alliances is
turning its back. And doing it by accommodating Russia.”
Additional reporting by Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Munich