The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, today preside in Paris a meeting of the so -called volunteer coalition in which the Ukrainian president will also be, Volodimir Zelenski. The group, of about thirty countries, mainly European, are willing to support the Ukrainian army, and even deploy soldiers in their territory once the fire is completed in order to deter Russia from any new aggression. The president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, will participate in the meeting by videoconference, after a breakdown on the official plane has forced him on Thursday to return to Madrid when he had already started his trip to Paris to attend the summit.
The solidity of the proposal will be tested during the meeting, scheduled from 10.30 to 12.30 in the morning, because some of those countries have been reluctant to support it waiting to verify the degree of involvement of the US, which several European countries consider indispensable before any commitment on their part.
Macron, who had dinner with Zelenski last night, is convinced that there will be no problem in setting a common position. “The Europeans will agree on Thursday that they are ready for the granting of security guarantees to Ukraine and now expect a specific support of the Americans,” said sources from the Elysium on Tuesday on the meeting to which the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, will also attend. “At the political level, the essential message that will be transmitted is that, taking into account the progress of the works until today, we are not only willing and we are capable, but we are prepared. That is the key message,” said a Macron counselor.
“What we will look for on Thursday is the confirmation of this scheme, that is, the coalition of volunteers effectively has the support of Americans to guarantee the security of Ukraine,” he added. “Today we have enough contributions to be able to tell them that we are prepared to assume our responsibilities, as long as they assume their own; that is, they give European partners the Backstopthe security network they claim, and that they also maintain their efforts to achieve the high fire that, together with Ukraine, we ask, ”the same counselor continued.
As of June 30, Europeans had provided kyiv 167,000 million euros in military, humanitarian and financial aid from the February 2022 invasion, while the United States had contributed about 115,000 million. This support also includes the continuation of the training of Ukrainian military in Ukraine or in European countries. More than 130,000 Ukrainians have been trained since 2022 in the framework of the Eumam (80,000) and British Interflex (56,000) European missions.
The meeting is also expected to discuss how to increase pressure on Moscow. Macron already said last Friday, in the Franco-German Council of Ministers that he presided in the French city of Tolón with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, that “cannot be left unanswered” which he considers that it is a breach by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of the commitment to sit down to negotiate with Zelenski, assumed before the American Donald Trump.
Macron anticipated that they will ask the US president to impose “primary and secondary sanctions” to force him to discuss.
The coalition of volunteers, in case of a peace agreement, would be directed from a general headquarters established by one year in Paris, before moving to London the following year. The security guarantees scheme states that the Ukrainian army with financing, weapons and logistics on a first level is supported. In the second, some EU countries would deploy support troops in case you had to go into combat. And the case, the third level would imply the protection of the US army. And that is the point that many countries want to clarify before accepting the other two.
The problem is that Donald Trump’s administration has given few signs of commitment in this section so far. And the pressure exerted by the US president over Putin has not given results.
Trump “told European leaders in Washington in the month of August that he was willing to reflect, that he was willing to work,” they clarify from the French presidency. Although Washington has ruled out any deployment of US forces on the ground, American support could compensate for European deficiencies regarding command and control systems, intelligence or anti -aircraft defense.
Mark Rutte, NATO general secretary, was very optimistic before the start of the appointment. For the Dutchman, the volunteer coalition meeting will “clarify” the commitment of Europeans within the framework of security guarantees for Ukraine, waiting for the US contribution. “I hope to have tomorrow, or a short time later, a clear idea of what we can achieve collectively” to guarantee the security of Ukraine, he said before the press in Brussels. “This means that we can commit ourselves even more deeply, together with the Americans, to see what they want to contribute in terms of their participation,” he added.
European leaders wrapped the president of Ukraine in mid -August during his meeting at the White House with Trump. Zelenski was backed by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO general secretary Mark Rutte, in addition to Macron and Starmer, drivers of this coalition. It will be the third time Sánchez goes to the appointment in Paris.
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