European leaders reaffirmed their long-term support for Ukraine during a summit in Paris but appeared to make little progress on what role they might play in providing security guarantees if a peace deal is struck with Moscow.
Thursday’s meeting was the third summit of what France and Britain have called the “coalition of the willing,” reflecting concern among Europeans that the U.S. no longer represents a firm bulwark of support for Ukraine in its three-year-old war against Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in office since January 20, has said he wants to broker a swift end to the war. However, bilateral talks between the U.S. and the warring sides have yet to diminish hostilities.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said leaders had agreed on the need for more support for Ukraine to ensure it was in the strongest possible position for any peace process, without elaborating.
European efforts to create security arrangements for Ukraine have been shifting away from sending troops to other alternatives as they face political and logistical constraints and the prospect of Russia and the U.S. opposing their plans.
Even so, co-host French President Emmanuel Macron said several countries had agreed to pursue a Franco-British idea for what he called a “reassurance force” that would be deployed in the event of a peace deal to deter future Russian aggression.
“It was not unanimous today, as we all know, and we don’t need unanimity,” Macron told a press conference.
Military delegations will travel to Ukraine in the coming days to start work on how the contours of a strong Ukrainian army would look in the long-term, he added.
Trump has pressured Europe to take on a greater financial share of its regional security burden. However, the continent’s anemic economic growth and high debt levels have complicated their task.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in office since January 20, has said he wants to broker a swift end to the war. However, bilateral talks between the U.S. and the warring sides have yet to diminish hostilities.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said leaders had agreed on the need for more support for Ukraine to ensure it was in the strongest possible position for any peace process, without elaborating.
European efforts to create security arrangements for Ukraine have been shifting away from sending troops to other alternatives as they face political and logistical constraints and the prospect of Russia and the U.S. opposing their plans.
Even so, co-host French President Emmanuel Macron said several countries had agreed to pursue a Franco-British idea for what he called a “reassurance force” that would be deployed in the event of a peace deal to deter future Russian aggression.
“It was not unanimous today, as we all know, and we don’t need unanimity,” Macron told a press conference.
Military delegations will travel to Ukraine in the coming days to start work on how the contours of a strong Ukrainian army would look in the long-term, he added.
Trump has pressured Europe to take on a greater financial share of its regional security burden. However, the continent’s anemic economic growth and high debt levels have complicated their task.
No end to sanctions
There was broad agreement at the summit that it would be a strategic error to prematurely ease sanctions on Russia—a condition Moscow demanded at recent talks with the U.S. about a Black Sea ceasefire.
“There was absolute clarity that Russia is trying to delay, is playing games,” Starmer said after the meeting, standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy, who agreed earlier this month to proceed with ceasefire talks to ensure a resumption of U.S. aid and intelligence sharing that Trump briefly suspended, said greater sanctions on Russia were required.
Meanwhile, France pledged €2 billion in new military aid to Ukraine ahead of the gathering of some 30 leaders.
The Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, accused France and Britain on Thursday of hatching plans for “military intervention in Ukraine” under the guise of a peacekeeping mission, adding that such an intervention could lead to a direct military clash between Russia and NATO.
Highlighting different views among Ukraine’s partners, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reiterated his country’s opposition to any such force.
“(We are) not sending troops on a mission unless they are part of the United Nations, (this) is the only condition for us to deploy military personnel” in Ukraine, Tajani said on Wednesday.
Poland had previously said it would not put boots on the ground in Ukraine. On Thursday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said it was “premature” to discuss sending European troops to Ukraine before a ceasefire was agreed.
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