President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France and the United Kingdom would lead efforts to send a "reassurance force" to Ukraine after any future peace deal with Russia, even if the idea was not approved by all their European allies.
"These reassurance forces are a British-French proposition that is desired by Ukraine," Macron said after a summit in Paris on Thursday of more than two dozen allies of Ukraine – the so-called Coalition of the Willing.
"It does not have unanimity today but we do not need unanimity to do this," he added, saying a Franco-British delegation would head to Ukraine in the coming days to discuss this, and the future shape of the Ukrainian army.
"There will be a reassurance force with several European countries who will deploy [to Ukraine]," he said.
Macron emphasised that members of such a force were not destined to be peacekeepers, or to be deployed on the front line or as any kind of substitute for the Ukrainian army.
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'Character of deterrence'
He also emphasised that not all of Ukraine's European allies would be represented in the force, with some states not "having the capacity" and some being reluctant to participate due to the "political context".
The Franco-British delegation would begin talks over where such a force could be deployed. It would have the "character of deterrence against any potential Russian aggression," Macron added.
He said that the summit had agreed that he and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer would together "co-pilot" Europe's "coalition of action for stable and durable peace".
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The UK-France delegation would also discuss the shape of "tomorrow's Ukraine army", Macron said, emphasising the importance of a "strong Ukrainian army, well-equipped for the day after".
The European countries also agreed to ramp up rather than lift sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine.
"There was complete clarity that now is not the time for the lifting of sanctions, quite the contrary -- what we discussed is how we can increase sanctions to support the US initiative to bring Russia to the table from further pressure," Starmer said.
Zelensky added that "everybody understood and understands that today Russia does not want any kind of peace".
'The Euro-Atlantic context'
Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni, who was present at the summit, said that she hopes the United States will be involved in the next European meeting on Ukraine, and repeated her position that in Rome's case "no national participation in a possible military force on the ground is planned".
Meloni, who has sought to maintain ties with the US president, has repeatedly warned that Europe needs to work with the US on Ukraine and the wider issue of security.
Meloni's office said lasting peace requires not only continued support for Ukraine but also "solid and credible security guarantees" that "must be founded in the Euro-Atlantic context", and could "partly follow what is provided for in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty".
Under NATO's Article 5 provision, an attack on one member is considered an attack against all.
Summit host Macron suggested a "technical study" into the question, which Meloni said she welcomed.
US-Russia talks on Ukraine 'useful,' will continue: Russian negotiator
Ukraine has offered, through the US, a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia has so far failed to respond, with the European allies growing all the more impatient.
The US claims tentative progress towards a ceasefire to end the three-year conflict sparked by Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour. But as yet a peace deal appears far off.
Before the leaders met, Russian drone attacks overnight wounded more than 20 people and heavy shelling on Thursday afternoon killed one person and knocked out electricity in parts of Kherson, Ukrainian officials said.
(with newswires)
