“We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Macron posted on his X social media account. “To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians. Macron said he would hold further discussions and work would continue “both in supporting Ukraine and in developing and investing in our defense.” Last week at the Munich Security Conference, US officials said in stark terms there’s a limit to how much Washington is prepared to do militarily in Europe.
Zelenskyy said he discussed the state of affairs in Europe with Macron and security guarantees for his country. “We share a common vision: security guarantees must be robust and reliable,” the Ukrainian president said. “Any other decision without such guarantees — such as a fragile ceasefire — would only serve as another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations.”Ukraine and European leaders have been trying to work their way into the process to end Russia’s full-scale assault on its neighbor that started about three years ago. With the US intent on moving at a rapid pace, Europe risks being sidelined from negotiations that could ultimately determine the security balance on the continent for years to come if it doesn’t quickly come up with a tangible plan.
European officials and Kyiv have both said they wanted allies to agree to security guarantees before talking to Russia, and Ukraine won’t agree to anything it wasn’t involved in negotiating. The US has asked European nations to spell out what security guarantees they’re willing to provide Ukraine to ensure a lasting peace settlement and how allies should react if any troops they deploy were attacked by Russia.
The Trump administration is seeking details on how European allies could contribute to guarantees for Kyiv and deter Moscow in the future, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News.
