Europe Edges Forward On Ukraine Security Guarantees As US Stalls

European leaders forged ahead with pledges to provide Ukraine with security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire even as little clarity emerged over concrete commitments from US President Donald Trump. 

French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 countries are prepared to contribute to guarantees, including troops. US support for the measures will be finalized in the coming days, according to France’s leader, though the White House didn’t comment. 

Allied troops could be present “on the ground, at sea, or in the air” as part of a deal, Macron told journalists in Paris Thursday following a meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing, which Trump joined remotely.

“This force does not want to — nor has the objective of — waging whatever war against Russia,” Macron said alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. 

The US president has previously ruled out sending troops to Ukraine, but pledged to provide some form of backstop, including intelligence and air support. 

Ukraine and its allies have intensified work on security guarantees after Trump met with Zelenskiy, European leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington on Aug. 18. Their talks followed Trump’s summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, after which the US leader pledged to set up a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders in a bid to broker peace. 

Trump used the call on Thursday to demand more economic pressure from Europe to bring Putin to the negotiating table, including a total halt to purchases of Russian oil and gas, according to Finnish President Alexander Stubb. The US leader also called on Europeans to apply pressure to China, he said. 

Putin-Zelenskiy Summit

Allies have agreed on the goal to enable Ukraine to be in a position of strength so it’s never attacked again by Russia after the fighting ends, according to an official familiar with discussions. The plan is to turn Ukraine into a porcupine — a strategy also known as the Israel or South Korea model, the official said, declining to be identified as talks take behind closed doors. 

Zelenskiy said the discussion in Paris was detailed and reiterated that a summit meeting between himself and Putin is necessary. 

While the Ukrainian president has repeatedly said he was ready for a sit-down with the Russian leader, Moscow has shown no interest in a meeting any time soon. Trump, who promised to put additional pressure on Putin to force him to negotiate, has yet to deliver.

European leaders agreed that tougher sanctions against Russia are key to force Moscow to end the war and engage in negotiations about a peace agreement, the official said. They made it clear to Trump that they are now waiting for the US response to jointly toughen sanctions on Russia, according to the official. 

The gathering in Paris took place as European leaders are increasingly concerned that Russia will mount a new offensive in Ukraine, Bloomberg earlier reported.

At their meeting in the southern French port of Toulon last week, German and French officials discussed Russian troops massing outside Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian-held stronghold in the eastern Donetsk region, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named. 

Zelenskiy said last week that Russia had redeployed 100,000 soldiers to the frontline outside the city, which the Kremlin’s forces have tried to encircle and seize without success for more than a year. 

Amid Trump’s drive to negotiate an end to Russia’s war, now well into the fourth year, Moscow has stuck to its maximalist demands of Kyiv. The Kremlin still insists that Ukraine cede control of four regions, none of which Russian forces fully occupy. 

Putin said Wednesday that Russia is prepared to achieve its goals by military means if it can’t secure them through diplomacy. 

Meanwhile, Russia’s grinding offensive campaign continues without significant territorial gains. Moscow’s troops have advanced slowly, capturing 2,033 square kilometers (785 square miles) in May-August or 0.3% of Ukraine’s total area.