European Leaders Demand Involvement in Ukraine Peace Talks

European leaders demanded assurances that Europe will be part of any peace talks with Russia after U.S. President Donald Trump stepped up his push to broker a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine by speaking directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour and agreeing to begin negotiations. Trump's call on February 12 is seen as part of the White House's aim to move quickly toward ending the almost three-year-old war, and "certainly not a betrayal" of Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on February 13. But foreign…