Macron announces that 26 countries will participate in the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine once a ceasefire is in place.

ParisPeace negotiations in Ukraine appear to be at a standstill, but Europe is moving forward to prepare for the future peace scenario. French President Emmanuel Macron announced this Thursday that 26 countries—mostly European— have agreed to participate in the peace mission in Ukraine that will be deployed when there is anCeasefire. "Twenty-six countries have pledged to deploy troops in Ukraine as a guarantee force, or to be present by land, sea, or air," the French president assured after the summit held this Thursday in Paris.

Macron declined to provide details of the number of troops to be deployed or any other details of the mission, as the French president justified, in order not to provide information to Russia. Despite the lack of specifics regarding the so-called security guarantees that Europe and other countries supporting Ukraine will deploy when a peace agreement is signed, it is likely that not all of the states Emmanuel Macron referred to will send troops to Ukraine.

Some could limit their participation to a deployment on European territory, in countries close to Ukraine, or could contribute with maritime and air surveillance. In fact, Italy has already clarified that it will not send soldiers on the ground, despite Macron's announcement, also supported by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Spain's role in this mission and whether it will send soldiers are also unclear. Central government sources have been ambiguous on the matter: "Spain has been present at all these meetings and, as part of this Coalition of the Willing, will participate in the security architecture that guarantees Ukraine's stability when conditions for peace are met." The Spanish government has always said that it is "premature" to talk about peace guarantees until a ceasefire is agreed upon and has still not publicly specified its military contribution, a politically sensitive issue.

In the midst of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine and faced with the blockage of peace negotiations, around thirty leaders of European countries that support the Coalition of the Willing met this Thursday in Paris – most of them by videoconference – with Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyLater, US President Donald Trump joined the meeting, also remotely. "Twenty-six countries have agreed to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. I think today, for the first time in a long time, is the first concrete and serious step forward," Zelensky summarized.

Deterrence against Putin

The Coalition of the Willing, launched by Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, brings together countries willing to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine. when there is a ceasefire, as a guarantee of security. The peacekeeping mission would support the Ukrainian army to deter Russia from attacking again.

The message sent by the Coalition countries, directed especially at Trump, is that they are ready to deploy the peacekeeping mission. "The Europeans are ready to provide security guarantees when peace is signed" between Kiev and Moscow, Macron stated.

The French president also announced that the US is willing to support the international peacekeeping mission, although the exact form will not be specified for a few days. "The United States has been very clear about its willingness to be part of the security guarantees," Macron assured. Until now, the US has resisted participating in the Coalition of the Willing, but the Europeans consider Trump's support a condition. sine qua nonto deploy security guarantees. Paris and London believe that if Washington supports the mission, Russia is less likely to attack again.

Sánchez's setback

The meeting was chaired by Macron and Starmer, and only a few leaders attended in person, including the President of Poland, Donald Tusk; the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; and the President of the European Council, António Costa. The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, had planned to attend in person, but ended up doing so via videoconference because his plane suffered a technical problem and he had to return to Madrid while he was already en route to Paris.

The meeting also served to once again support the Ukrainian president and to demand that President Putin sit down and negotiate peaceDiplomatic efforts have accelerated in recent weeks—Trump even met with Putin in August—but without much success. For now, the Russian president does not seem willing to give in, and the Europeans have pressured the White House resident to, in turn, pressure the Russian president. Zelensky believes there is not enough international pressure on Russia. "Every Russian attack must be sanctioned," the Ukrainian president demanded.

Macron promised this Thursday that there will be new sanctions in Moscow—in coordination with the US, according to the French president—if Putin does not sit down to negotiate. "If Russia continues to reject concrete peace negotiations [...], then we will take additional sanctions together with the United States and give clear responses to this refusal to move forward," he stated.

The Europeans' meeting with Zelensky and Trump took place after Putin displayed his good rapport with China and North Korea while also carrying out massive attacks on Ukrainian cities. This isn't the first summit where European countries and other Ukrainian allies have shown their support for Zelensky, but after the images of Putin with Asian leaders, Paris and Berlin felt it was more necessary than ever to once again demonstrate their support.