French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, March 20, said the leaders of a coalition of Ukraine backers would meet again in Paris next week, as it seeks to finalize plans to secure a potential truce in the war with Russia. "We will hold another meeting of the coalition of the willing next Thursday in Paris in [the] presence of President [Volodymyr] Zelensky," Macron told reporters following an EU summit in Brussels.
"We will finalize our work on short-term support for the Ukrainian army, on defending a sustainable model for Ukraine's armed forces to prevent Russian invasions, and security guarantees that European armies can provide," he said. "The entire process will be finalized in the next few days."
Macron, together with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has been leading efforts to form a coalition in support of Ukraine since US President Donald Trump opened direct negotiations with Russia last month to end the three-year-long war. "We have done a lot of work with the British on ways to support the ceasefire," Macron said. "That is important to ensure any ceasefire is credible, as and when it comes."
"This will be a chance to discuss and fine-tune," added the French leader.
On Friday, Macron said that Russia has shown it is not serious about bringing peace to Ukraine after Moscow launched a new drone barrage against its neighbor despite American efforts to end the conflict. "Last night, Russia demonstrated once again that it genuinely does not share the desire for peace. I offer my full support to the Ukrainian people," Macron wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Starmer on Thursday hosted talks with around 30 senior military planners from nations interested in the coalition, saying afterwards that the "political intention" of security guarantees for Ukraine was becoming "reality."
"Whether that's in relation to what might happen at sea or air or defending borders, and those plans are coming together," the British leader said. Questions remain over what the group might be able to do after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded an end to Western military aid to Ukraine as a condition for any end to fighting. Both Starmer and Macron say they are willing to put their own troops on the ground.
Russia, however, has said it will not accept the presence of any NATO troops in Ukraine and Washington has given no indication it would be willing to provide a security backstop for a deployment of boots on the ground.