European leaders seek to prevent rewarding Russian aggression, Spain says

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said European leaders will discuss in Paris on Monday how to prevent a peace negotiation on Ukraine ending up rewarding Russian aggression.

“A war of aggression cannot be rewarded, we cannot encourage others to launch wars of aggression,” he said in an interview with radio station Onda Cero. “Today I’m convinced Putin will keep attacking and bombing Ukraine. So I do not see peace on the horizon at the moment,” he added.

Albares addressed an urgent gathering of European leaders, among them Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, organized by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the Ukraine conflict. The conference was held after U.S. representatives indicated that Europe would not participate in any discussions aimed at resolving the conflict.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump surprised European NATO partners and Ukraine by revealing he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin without their prior consultation and intended to initiate a peace process. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Saudi Arabia for anticipated discussions with Russian representatives focused on concluding Moscow’s nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine.