Macron wants a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine: "It's time for Europe to use its full weight"

ParisSome thirty countries of the European Union and NATO met in Paris on Tuesday, convened by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and represented by the chiefs of the defence staff, to outline the Franco-British proposal. to send a peace mission to Ukraine when there is a ceasefire. The idea is to deploy between 20,000 and 30,000 soldiers on the ground to ensure that Russia complies with the agreements. "The meeting is a first step on security guarantees," summed up the French Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu. Macron went a little further: "It is time for Europe to make its full weight count."

Among the countries represented, which are those that "want to assume their responsibilities" with Ukraine, according to Macron, are Spain, most of the EU partners and other allies such as the United Kingdom and Canada. The great absentee has been the United States, which, according to some French media, has not been invited. The American president, Donald Trump, does not oppose the deployment of European troops in Ukraine when peace talks are successful

The countries willing to send troops to Ukraine - above all France and the United Kingdom - consider that the participation of the United States in the future peacekeeping mission, even without deploying soldiers, is indispensable. According to sources from the Elysée, at the meeting in Paris on Tuesday, the capitals asked that the future peacekeeping mission be linked to NATO. In the discussions, the importance of the mission having security guarantees was discussed. These guarantees, according to the same sources, "must not be separated from NATO and its capabilities." Therefore, Washington should somehow get involved.

Guarantee to Moscow

Europeans believe that the only guarantee that Russia will not violate future peace agreements and attack Ukraine again when international troops are deployed is for the US to participate in the peacekeeping mission. Deploying only 20,000 troops without Washington's support would not be a deterrent to Moscow, Europeans believe. Whether Trump commits to supporting the mission, whether with air forces, providing intelligence or agreeing to the use of NATO capabilities, is a key issue.

The meeting is also a message to Trump: despite the reluctance of a good handful of capitals to send troops to Ukraine, the success of the meeting shows that a large majority of Western countries are committed to the country led by Volodymyr Zelensky. Indeed, at the Paris meeting it was made clear that support and security guarantees must be provided in Ukraine "in the long term."

Spain's chief of defence staff, Teodoro López Calderón, also took part in the Paris meeting. However, the official position of the Spanish government remains that it is "premature" to talk about a peace mission when negotiations are just beginning. Government sources stressed on Tuesday that Spain was going to the meeting with the intention of listening to and learning details of the mission and that its presence does not indicate that it has already decided to participate.