PARIS (AP) — France and Britain will continue to forge ahead with plans to deploy troops in Ukraine to defend an eventual peace deal with Russia but only some other nations want to take part, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday after a summit of countries that have been mulling the proposal. The French leader said “several” nations other than France and Britain want to be part of the armed force but added, “It is not unanimous.” Paris and London say such a force would aim to secure any peace deal by dissuading Russia from attacking Ukraine again.
“We do not need unanimity to achieve it,” Macron said. French and British military officials will work with Ukraine to determine where the contingents should be deployed and how many troops they’d need to be a credible deterrent, the French leader added. “There will be a reassurance force with several European nations that will deploy,” he insisted. The summit of leaders of nearly 30 countries plus NATO and European Union chiefs came at a crucial juncture in the more than three-year war, with intensifying diplomatic efforts to broker ceasefires, driven by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
But fighting rages on. Before the leaders met in the luxury of the French presidential palace, Russian drone attacks overnight wounded more than 20 people and heavy shelling Thursday afternoon killed one person and knocked out electricity in parts of Kherson, Ukrainian officials said. Macron and other summit participants accused Russia of only pretending to want a negotiated settlement. “They are playing games and they’re playing for time,” said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We can’t let them drag this out while they continue prosecuting their illegal invasion.” U.S.-brokered agreements this week to safeguard shipping in the Black Sea and last week to halt long-range strikes on energy infrastructure were greeted as first steps 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.
Europe asks: Will US help?
One reason why some European countries are balking at a potential deployment in Ukraine is because it’s unclear whether Trump would support such a contingent with air power and other military assistance
“This will require the engagement and support of the United States,” Starmer said. “That’s a discussion we’ve had with the president on many occasions.” Macron suggested they may have to do without U.S. backing. “You have to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” he said. “My hope is that the Americans will be on our side and that the Americans will support, even play an active role.” “But we have to be prepared for a situation where perhaps they won’t join in,” he added. Building a force big enough to act as a credible deterrent — U.K. officials have talked about possibly 10,000 to 30,000 troops — would be a considerable effort for nations that shrank their militaries after the Cold War but are now rearming.
Starmer’s office said military planners from Europe and beyond have been drilling down into details, examining “the full range of European military capabilities including aircraft, tanks, troops, intelligence and logistics.” Greece publicly rejected sending troops. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said those discussions were “somewhat divisive” and distracted from the goal of ending the war as soon as possible. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also reiterated that Rome won’t contribute troops to a possible military force to be deployed to Ukraine. She also underlined the importance of working with the U.S. on ending the conflict and called for the participation of an American delegation in the next coordination meeting.
In the face of enduring pressure from Trump on Europe to increase military spending and rely less on U.S. forces, the proposed contingent is seen as a test of the continent’s willingness to defend itself and its interests. While the U.S. has spearheaded ceasefire talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that Europe, represented by Macron and Starmer, must also be at the negotiating table. “We do not consider any alternative,” he said. “This is our firm stance. Europe is vast, and it must have clear representation in these negotiations.”
Agreement on sanctions
Summit participants were more in agreement that sanctions squeezing Russia’s economy must be continued, and even toughened, to force Moscow to negotiate in good faith. “Lifting sanctions on Russia right now would be a disaster for diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. “Sanctions are one of the few real tools the world has to pressure Russia into serious talks.” Russia has demanded that sanctions be lifted to meet its terms for the Black Sea ceasefire. The White House said it would help restore Russia’s access to the world market for fertilizer and farm exports, but it didn’t validate Moscow’s conditions. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russia’s demands would be evaluated and presented to Trump. Zelenskyy said: “They’re dragging out the talks and trying to get the U.S. stuck in endless, pointless discussions about fake ‘conditions’ just to buy time and then try to grab more land.”
More aid and more attacks
As ceasefire efforts gather steam, 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 peace takes hold and also to turn the Ukrainian army into the first line of defense against any future Russian aggression. Macron announced a new package of defense aid for Ukraine that he said was worth 2 billion euros ($2.15 billion) and will include light tanks, air defense and anti-tank missiles and other weaponry and support. Russian drone attacks overnight wounded at least 18 people in the Kharkiv region and three people in Dnipro, officials said. Shelling in a front-line community in the Zaporizhzhia region knocked out electricity and phone coverage, regional head Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram. Separately, the Ukrainian Army General Staff said that its attack at Engels military airfield in Russia on March 20 had destroyed 96 air-to-air cruise missiles and significant reserves of aviation fuel. Satellite imagery taken the next day by Maxar Technologies appeared to show damage to ammunition and weapons storage at Engels, the main base for Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers.
