President Emmanuel Macron of France vowed on Thursday that a “coalition of the willing” would keep supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia and would help safeguard an eventual peace — including, for some Europeans countries, by sending a “reassurance force” to Ukrainian soil after the conflict ends.
But Mr. Macron, who spoke at the end of a gathering of European leaders in Paris, said the contours of that force were still being ironed out, and details of who was willing to do what to give Ukraine security guarantees were still scarce.
That compounded a sense of murkiness around diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Even as the leaders met, Russia faced accusations that it was drawing out U.S.-mediated negotiations in Saudi Arabia to gain the upper hand. And it is an open question what role the United States would be willing to play to support a European force stationed in Ukraine.
“We need to accelerate discussions to obtain a cease-fire, we need to accelerate our ability to finance and deliver weapons, and to prepare plans for the Ukrainian army and the reassurance force,” Mr. Macron said at a news conference after the meeting.
But after three hours of discussions in Paris, Britain and France were still the only countries who have committed to the idea. Russia has called it unacceptable.
Speaking during a briefing with reporters on Thursday, Maria V. Zakharova, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called such a mission “military intervention in Ukraine under the guise of a peacekeeping mission.”
“It could lead to a direct military clash between Russia and NATO,” she added.
Mr. Macron said any European force would not be on the front lines of the conflict and would not be tasked with monitoring or enforcing a cease-fire. That job, he suggested, could fall to U.N. peacekeepers or other independent monitors, while European troops would be based farther from the front to deter Russia. The Europeans would also help train and support Ukrainian forces.
Mr. Macron acknowledged that the leaders had not found “unanimity” on a reassurance force. Italy wants to send troops on the ground only if they are part of a U.N. mission, while Poland has ruled it out entirely. Still, Mr. Macron said France and Britain would send military delegations to Ukraine to work on drawing up plans for the future of Ukraine’s army and for the size and scope of a reassurance force.
“It’s these military-to-military exchanges that will define the locations, the number of forces to make it credible, and the capabilities,” Mr. Macron said. “Nothing has been ruled out yet. We’re looking at sea, air and land.”
He later added that “within three to four weeks we’ll have a fairly precise action plan” on bolstering the Ukrainian army and creating a European force.
Thursday’s meeting came after similar gatherings by leaders and military chiefs in France and Britain, which are leading efforts to help Ukraine despite wavering American commitment. The leaders in Paris also promised to increase short-term military aid for Ukraine, Mr. Macron said, including by accelerating the disbursement of loans backed by Russian assets that were agreed upon last year.
“We also unanimously agreed that now was not the time to lift sanctions, whatever they may be,” he said.
The Kremlin has said it would honor portions of a deal on a cease-fire in the Black Sea that was struck this week only after Western countries removed restrictions on Russian agricultural exports — a demand that European countries have rejected.
“It’s clear the Russians are filibustering,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said at the Paris meeting, according to his office.
President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has called the idea of a European force in Ukraine “simplistic” and “a posture and a pose” — even though the Trump administration has repeatedly berated Europe for doing too little to defend itself. Mr. Trump has not shown any willingness to provide American guarantees of Ukrainian security, which Mr. Starmer has said would be required for most European countries to consider committing troops.
“There’s still a lack of clarity about the nature of American commitments the day after,” Mr. Macron said, adding that when it came to U.S. support, “you have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”
Still, he called the United States a “reliable” ally and said he had spoken to Mr. Trump by phone before Thursday’s meeting and would brief him again afterward. Mr. Macron also seemed to appeal to Mr. Trump’s dislike of being on the bad end of a deal, suggesting that Russia — which, unlike Ukraine, has not agreed to an unconditional 30-day cease-fire — was flouting his peace efforts.
“President Trump is expecting a clear answer from Russia,” Mr. Macron said. “If that clear answer from Russia doesn’t come, President Trump will feel cheated, betrayed, rightly so, and then he’ll have to react.”
“But I’m not putting myself in his shoes,” he added. “I’m just trying to describe how things would normally go.”
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