More than 30 world leaders have gathered in-person or over video in Paris to hash out guidelines for protecting Ukraine if peace is established, but their planning seems to be for nothing if United States President Donald Trump doesn’t take the lead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with world leaders from the “Coalition of the Willing” on Thursday at a conference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Approximately 26 member states pledged to send troops as a “reassurance force” against future Russian aggression if a peace deal was signed. Additional promises were made to bolster the Ukrainian military itself.
“A strong Ukrainian army is and will remain the central element of security guarantees. Therefore, it is about the capabilities of our army — financing, weapons, and defense production,” Zelensky said. “We are working to ensure all of this, and it must be in place a year from now, five years from now, and ten years from now — both in the current conditions of war and to guarantee security afterward.”
“We already have a basis for the plan — regarding forces and specific steps,” he continued. “We are preparing documents on guarantees and determining each country’s investment in security. Twenty-six countries have agreed to provide Ukraine with security guarantees.”
The details of the coalition’s agreements have been mostly kept under wraps, but the group also reportedly approved a plan to send long-range missiles to Ukraine to “further bolster the country’s supplies.”
The European Union’s expected 19th sanctions package, which could roll out secondary sanctions on nations believed to be allowing businesses to work with Russia, was also discussed. Japan is reportedly preparing its own separate round of economic penalties for the Kremlin.
However, the message from the Coalition of the Willing was clear — their efforts are likely in vain without the U.S. spearheading the arrangements.
“We are counting on a U.S. backstop,” Zelensky said. “The exact American contribution will be specified in the coming days.”
Zelensky had a closed-door meeting with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff during the conference, according to Ukrainian presidential press secretary Serhii Nikiforov.
President Donald Trump also spoke with the gathered world leaders via a video call, reportedly demanding that the European leaders take stronger actions to curb their own financial support of Russia through oil purchases.
“President Macron and European leaders called President Trump into their ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting. President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war — as Russia received 1.1 billion euros in fuel sales from the EU in one year,” a White House official told Reuters.
“The president also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts,” the official added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alliance with the Chinese government appears more solid than ever after he spent multiple days in China meeting with paramount leader Xi Jinping, North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, and other world leaders positioning themselves against U.S. hegemony.
Despite stalling peace negotiations with Zelensky for weeks following the Alaska Summit last month, Putin made overtures to a diplomatic end to the war during his Beijing trip — but made clear that military might will always remain an option.
“If common sense prevails, it should be possible to agree on an acceptable way to end the conflict, that’s my assumption,” Putin told journalists on Wednesday. “All the more so since we see the mood of the Trump administration, and not just rhetoric but a genuine desire to find a solution.”
He added, “We’ll see how the situation evolves. If not, then we will have to achieve our objectives by military means.”
Following the Paris meeting on Thursday, the Ukrainian president offered “special thanks to President Trump for all his efforts to end this war and for America’s readiness to provide support to Ukraine on its part.”
PUTIN MEETS WITH WORLD LEADERS AS HE STALLS ON US-BACKED ZELENSKY MEETING
Trump shared an article from CBS on Thursday via Truth Social in which he told an interviewer that Zelensky and Putin are “not ready” for peace but voiced optimism that a ceasefire was on the horizon.
“I’ve been watching it, I’ve been seeing it, and I’ve been talking about it with President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said in the interview. “Something is going to happen, but they are not ready yet. But something is going to happen. We are going to get it done.”
Asked if there are instances where he must “wait things out” on the conflict, he replied, “Well, you have to do that.”