A Franco-British delegation will visit Ukraine in the coming days to discuss details of a proposed “reassurance force” to be deployed in the event of a ceasefire, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has said.
The delegation will also work with the Ukrainian military on the future shape of Ukraine’s armed forces. Macron said Paris and London were leading a so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ to support peace in Ukraine and that the deployment of European forces was “desired by Ukraine.”
Speaking in Paris after a summit of European allies on Thursday aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s security, Macron said the U.S. remained a “viable ally” for Ukraine but that Europe needed to defend its own interests, the France24 news site reported.
He said EU leaders hoped the U.S. would stand with them but had to be prepared to work without Washington.
Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, said Western allies other than the U.S. would be ready to put a peace deal into operation and would “work together to ensure Ukraine's security” so that it could defend itself and deter future threats.
Starmer also said he would like to see a peace agreement in days or weeks, rather than months.
Speaking in Paris after a summit of European allies on Thursday aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s security, Macron said the U.S. remained a “viable ally” for Ukraine but that Europe needed to defend its own interests, the France24 news site reported.
He said EU leaders hoped the U.S. would stand with them but had to be prepared to work without Washington.
Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, said Western allies other than the U.S. would be ready to put a peace deal into operation and would “work together to ensure Ukraine's security” so that it could defend itself and deter future threats.
Starmer also said he would like to see a peace agreement in days or weeks, rather than months.
No end to sanctions
Macron said the leaders had agreed during the summit that now is not the time to lift sanctions against Russia. Moscow had earlier said an agreed truce in the Black Sea would only take effect when certain sanctions had been lifted, including against its banking sector.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a premature lifting of sanctions would be a “serious mistake” as it made "no sense at all to end the sanctions until peace has actually been achieved.
“Unfortunately, we are still a long way from that," he added.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, struck a note of caution, saying: “Everybody understood and understands that today Russia does not want any kind of peace.”
Macron also said frozen Russian assets valued at around €230 billion could potentially be put towards Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction as part of any peace agreement.
The French president added that he would talk with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, in the coming hours.
Meanwhile, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said after the summit of 31 European leaders that Europe is united in undertaking the “necessary effort to maintain the best relations with the U.S., even if the circumstances aren’t always favorable.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a premature lifting of sanctions would be a “serious mistake” as it made "no sense at all to end the sanctions until peace has actually been achieved.
“Unfortunately, we are still a long way from that," he added.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, struck a note of caution, saying: “Everybody understood and understands that today Russia does not want any kind of peace.”
Macron also said frozen Russian assets valued at around €230 billion could potentially be put towards Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction as part of any peace agreement.
The French president added that he would talk with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, in the coming hours.
Meanwhile, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said after the summit of 31 European leaders that Europe is united in undertaking the “necessary effort to maintain the best relations with the U.S., even if the circumstances aren’t always favorable.”
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