Paris: Ukraine’s allies from across Europe gathered for talks in Paris on Thursday about how to strengthen Kyiv’s hand and its military as it pushes for a ceasefire with Russia, and to consider proposals to deploy European troops in the country in tandem with any peace deal.
French President Emmanuel Macron was hosting the leaders of nearly 30 countries plus NATO and European Union chiefs. The summit comes at a crucial juncture in the more than three-year war, with intensifying diplomatic efforts to broker ceasefires, driven by pressure from US President Donald Trump to end the fighting.
But the conflict is raging on. Russian drone attacks overnight before the leaders met in the luxury of the French presidential palace injured more than 20 people, Ukrainian officials said.
US-brokered agreements this week to safeguard shipping in the Black Sea and halt long-range strikes on energy infrastructure were greeted as a first step toward peace. But Ukraine and Russia have disagreed over the details and accused each other of deal violations, foreshadowing a long and contentious process ahead.
France and Britain are pushing a separate initiative to build a coalition of nations willing in one way or another to support the deployment of a European armed force in Ukraine, with the aim of securing any peace deal by dissuading Russia from attacking the country again.
Some European countries are more comfortable with a potential deployment than others — not least because a big unknown is whether Trump would allow US forces and intelligence agencies to back up any European contingent with air and logistical support and other assistance.
Building a force big enough to act as a credible deterrent — British officials have talked about possibly 10,000 to 30,000 troops — would also be a considerable effort for nations that shrank their militaries after the Cold War but are now rearming. There would also be questions to resolve about who would command the force and how it might respond to a major violation by Russia of any peace agreement.
After talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to prepare for the summit, Macron said Wednesday that the proposed European force could deploy to “important towns, strategic bases” in Ukraine and that it could “respond” to a Russian attack if Moscow launched one.
Macron didn’t specify what sort of response he envisaged. But he suggested that a Russian attack might not go unanswered, even though the European troops wouldn’t be deployed to the frontlines.
“If there was again a generalised aggression against Ukrainian soil, these armies would, in fact, be under attack and then it’s our usual framework of engagement,” Macron said. “Our soldiers, when they are engaged and deployed, are there to react and respond to the decisions of the commander in chief and, if they are in a conflict situation, to respond to it.
“So we are not on the frontlines, we don’t go to fight, but we are there to guarantee a lasting peace. It’s a pacifist approach,” he said. “The only ones who would, at that moment, trigger a conflict, a bellicose situation, would be the Russians if they decided again to launch an aggression.”
In the meantime, Ukraine’s allies in Europe are working to strengthen Kyiv’s hand militarily. Their aim is to enable it to keep fighting until any broad ceasefire takes hold and also to turn the Ukrainian army into the first line of defence against any future Russian aggression.
Macron announced a new package of defence aid for Ukraine that he said was worth 2 billion euros (USD 2.15 billion) and will include light tanks, air defence and anti-tank missiles and other weaponry and support.
Russian drone attacks overnight injured at least 18 people in the Kharkiv region and three people in Dnipro, officials said. Shelling in a frontline community in the Zaporizhzhia region knocked out electricity and phone coverage, regional head Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Zelenskyy said the attacks were further evidence that the US and Europe should not ease sanctions on Moscow.
“Russia is killing every day and prolonging this war,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “The American proposal for an unconditional ceasefire has been on the table for half a month now.”
