The so-called Coalition of the Willing met in person and virtually in Paris today, after which French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that 26 nations are ready to take part in an international force as part of security guarantees for Ukraine, in the event of a peace deal with Russia. Standing alongside acting president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Elysée Palace, according to Reuters, Macron told reporters, “As a form of reassurance, 26 countries have committed to deploying troops to Ukraine, where they will be present on land, on sea or in the air.” If Russia refuses a peace deal and ceasefire in Ukraine, Macron claimed, Europe will impose even more sanctions on Russia.
Afterwards, U.S. President Donald Trump berated Europe for still buying oil from Russia. “President Macron and European leaders called President Trump into their ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting. President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war—as Russia received €1.1 billion in fuel sales from the EU in one year,” a White House official told Reuters. “The President also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts.”
It’s still not clear exactly what the military deployment into Ukraine would look like, or if anything concrete is even being discussed. Zelenskyy, speaking after meeting with Macron yesterday, said that the “guarantees” still looked “theoretical,” after which he expressed confidence that something concrete would come out of today’s meeting.
What is clear is that the so-called “reassurance force” can’t deploy and operate without U.S. support. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer “emphasized that the group had an unbreakable pledge to Ukraine, with President Trump’s backing, and it was clear they now needed to go even further to apply pressure on Putin to secure a cessation of hostilities,” according to a statement from his office.
