French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a new summit of countries willing to help guarantee a possible peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.
Following a summit of leaders of European Union countries in Brussels on Thursday, Macron announced that a new summit on Ukraine would be held in Paris next Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to attend, Macron said.
“We will finalize our work to support the Ukrainian army and build a sustainable and resilient military model to prevent future Russian invasions,” Macron said on X.
“We will also define the security guarantees that European forces can provide. To protect peace is what we want.”
Macron said that Ukraine needs credible support to ensure that any possible ceasefire holds. This would also strengthen its position in possible negotiations.
The meeting in Paris is intended to build on the progress made at military-level talks in London on Thursday. These were attended by representatives of more than two dozen European and non-European countries.
Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have been leading the charge to form a so-called “coalition of the willing,” which would be made up of nations prepared to offer troops or support to a peacekeeping force in case a peace deal is reached to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has been raging for over three years.
So far the discussions have involved not just leaders of NATO and EU countries, but also representatives from countries including Australia and New Zealand.
The discussions include issues including the question of whether and under what conditions European forces could contribute to securing a ceasefire.
The United Kingdom and France have in principle indicated their openness to sending ground troops to Ukraine. However, they insist on US involvement in the event of an escalation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated that his country is also considering sending troops.