French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the United States and US President Donald Trump next week. The trip will come in the wake of the Trump administration’s initial peace talks in Saudi Arabia, to which neither Ukraine nor Europe were invited. Macron’s attendance at the White House will be quickly followed up by a visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the White House said on Wednesday night.

As part of the initial negotiating team in Riyadh, widely criticized for including only US and Russian officials, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview on Wednesday that “We have President Macron and Prime Minister Starmer of the United Kingdom coming to Washington next week.”

He noted that Trump’s special envoy, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith Kellogg, had arrived in Ukraine to follow up with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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Macron’s visit to the US had not been previously announced, an announcement likely linked to the crisis summits in Paris that the French leader has called, the second of which will take place on Feb. 26.

Kellogg previously had said that the United States does not see Europe at the negotiating table to end the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Macron on Wednesday said that France and its allies agreed Ukraine’s rights and European security concerns should be taken into account in any deal to end the Ukraine war, ahead of him traveling to Washington next week, AFP reported.

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“The position of France and its allies is clear and united. We wish for peace in Ukraine that is lasting,” Macron posted on X after a meeting with the leaders of 19 countries including Canada, with most taking part by video link.

“We stand by Ukraine and will carry out all our responsibilities to ensure peace and security in Europe,” Macron said after the video conference call.

The French President said the call’s participants, which included the heads of EU nations plus those of Iceland and Norway, stressed that Ukraine should be included and “its rights respected” in the process. They said “robust and credible guarantees” were needed to ensure a lasting deal, and “European security concerns” would need to be taken into account.

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Trump has made it a point in his first month of his new presidency that European members of NATO need to step up their contributions to the Alliance to match American commitments.

“We are convinced of the need to increase our defense and security spending and capacities for Europe and each of our countries,” Macron said.

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