On [date], heads of state and government leaders from major European countries gathered in Paris for an emergency summit on European security issues. Days later, French President Emmanuel Macron convened another urgent summit. A sense of panic and anxiety over security and defense quickly spread across the European continent...

Just one day before the emergency summit, U.S. Vice President Vance shocked the world with a harsh critique of European values in Munich. Subsequently, the U.S. outright ignored Europe’s negotiations with Russia over the Ukraine conflict. In an instant, Europe, which had enjoyed peace and stability under U.S. security guarantees since World War II, faced its most severe security crisis. And the one responsible for all this was none other than U.S. President Trump, who had just returned to the White House a month earlier.

The "Over-the-Top Talks" Disregard Europe! After returning to power, Trump has completely overhauled the U.S. strategy toward Europe, abandoning the value-based alliance that the Biden administration and the European establishment had built. Under the dominance of ideology, he has repeatedly challenged Europe on issues such as tariffs and military spending. This time, regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict—a major security concern for Europe—Trump shockingly bypassed key European nations like Germany and France, ignored Ukraine’s existence, and directly sent representatives to engage in secret bilateral talks with Russia.

The United States and Russia resumed contact. On [month and day], the two countries restarted direct engagement after a nearly two-year hiatus, sending representatives to hold talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Trump dispatched Secretary of State Rubio, National Security Advisor Waltz, and Special Representative for Middle East Affairs Witkoff, while Putin sent Foreign Minister Lavrov and Presidential Assistant Ushakov. The high-level negotiators appointed by both sides reflect that this meeting was a direct clash of personal wills between the two top leaders, Trump and Putin.

The meeting lasted approximately half an hour, during which both parties opted for highly confidential negotiations in a private setting provided by the Saudi Crown Prince. Ultimately, four key points of consensus were reached:

• Both parties agree to establish a consultation mechanism and take necessary measures to normalize the operation of their respective diplomatic missions.
• Both parties agree to appoint their respective senior teams to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a lasting, sustainable, and mutually acceptable manner.
• Both parties agreed to lay the groundwork for future cooperation, which will re-emerge following the conclusion of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• The participating teams committed to maintaining contact on the same day to ensure the negotiation process is advanced in a timely and productive manner.

These four points of consensus are a strong signal of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the US and Russia, and also signify the formal commencement of negotiations led by the US and Russia to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On [specific date], representatives from the United States and Russia held talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ukraine and Europe were left in anxious frustration. On one side, there was the ice-breaking secret dialogue between the U.S. and Russia, while on the other, Ukraine, Germany, France, and the EU were filled with disappointment and resentment.

Upon learning that the U.S. and Russia would hold separate talks in Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy immediately issued a strong response, declaring that Ukraine had no information about the U.S.-Russia-Saudi discussions and would not recognize any agreements made without Ukraine's participation. Subsequently, on the same day that U.S. and Russian representatives met, Zelenskyy traveled to Turkey to seek security assurances from Turkey and other nations for Ukraine. At the same time, he postponed his scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia, originally set for later in the month, to express his strong dissatisfaction with the exclusive U.S.-Russia talks.

On the same day, Erdogan welcomed Zelensky's visit to Turkey. Turning to Europe, after expressing strong dissatisfaction with Trump's unilateral talks with Russia, key European leaders such as Scholz, Starmer, von der Leyen, and Rutte accepted Macron's invitation to attend an emergency summit to discuss the situation in Ukraine and collective European security. However, during the emergency summit, the nations failed to demonstrate the expected unity and cooperation. Major disagreements arose over whether Europe should deploy peacekeeping forces to Ukraine—Starmer argued that Europe should coordinate with U.S. forces on troop deployment, Scholz believed it was too early for Europe to act alone, while Spain and Poland opposed stationing European troops in Ukraine... Ultimately, Macron, who supported Europe sending troops independently, failed to push the meeting toward a consensus.

It has been proven that without the leadership of the United States, the European Union, which lacks a unified will and operates according to the individual interests of its member states, does not possess the capability to independently support Ukraine in sustaining the war, nor can it easily establish a security agreement framework that covers the entire European continent on its own.

On [date], French President Macron welcomed British Prime Minister Starmer at the Élysée Palace in Paris. Is the "Yalta Moment" playing out again? The current situation in Europe strikingly resembles the post-World War II global political landscape. After the war, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, based on their power, divided the world's political, economic, and military arrangements, signing a series of agreements that established the "Yalta System," which laid the foundational framework for international relations during the Cold War.

Under the "Yalta System," Europe was divided into eastern and western parts. Eastern and Western Europe formed distinctly different blocs politically, economically, and militarily, leaving Europe in a prolonged state of division. This bears a striking resemblance to the current scenario where the U.S. and Russia sideline Europe and Ukraine to dominate negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine issue and reshape Europe's security landscape.

In a certain year, the top leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union held the Yalta Conference on the Crimean Peninsula in the Soviet Union. "If parents are having dinner, the child has to sit at another table...Clearly, today's Europeans are that 'child.'" This metaphor vividly depicts the U.S.-Europe relations under Trump's administration, where the U.S. bypassed the NATO framework to directly negotiate with Russia, shaking the foundation of Europe's collective security mechanism—a point that deeply concerns European leaders like French President Macron.

Although Rubio has publicly stated that the EU needs to participate in Russia-Ukraine negotiations at some stage and that no one is "excluded," what role can Europe actually play under a negotiation framework dominated by the U.S. and Russia? It is nothing more than being a victim of the power struggle between the U.S. and Russia and an executor of Trump's will. What this reflects is the severe loss of Europe's voice in global affairs.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy warns that Europe could become a mere enforcement zone for U.S.-Russia economic agreements in the "post-conflict era," particularly losing bargaining power in strategic areas such as critical mineral development and Black Sea shipping rules. U.S.-Europe relations during the Trump era are destined to be a zero-sum game in the "post-hegemonic era," with the U.S. unwilling to continue footing the bill for the "liberal international order." Transatlantic ties are shifting from "special allies" to "transactional counterparts."

At the Yalta Conference years ago, the fate of Europe was written by others. Now facing a new "Yalta moment," where will the destiny of European nations lead...