European countries conspire in Paris to convince Trump to launch a peace mission in Ukraine.

ParisIn the midst of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine and faced with the blockage of peace negotiations, some thirty leaders of European countries supporting the Coalition of the Willing are meeting this Thursday in Paris - most of them by videoconference. with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. US President Donald Trump will later join the meeting, also remotely.

The Coalition of the Willing, spearheaded by French President 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 navy to deter Russia from attacking again.

The message that the Coalition countries will send this Thursday, 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 this Wednesday night.

The United States is reluctant to participate in the Coalition of the Willing, but the Europeans consider Trump's support a condition. sine qua non to deploy security guarantees. Today's meeting could be key to convincing the US president.At least that's what European countries hope. And, in fact, Donald Trump has sent his negotiator for Ukraine and Gaza, Steve Witkoff, to Paris, a gesture that could reinforce the idea of a positive response from Washington.

Plane failure

The meeting will be chaired by Macron and Starmer, and only a few leaders will be present at the Élysée Palace, 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 will ultimately do so by videoconference because his plane suffered a technical problem and he had to return to Madrid while already en route to Paris.

The meeting will also serve 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 hope to pressure the White House resident to pressure the Russian president in turn. Zelensky believes there is not enough international pressure on Russia. "Every Russian attack must be sanctioned," the Ukrainian president has demanded.

The Europeans' meeting with Zelensky and Trump comes after Putin has demonstrated his good rapport with China and North Korea while also carrying out massive attacks on Ukrainian cities.