On January 6th, Pedro Sánchez skipped the prestigious Military Easter Parade in favor of another, undoubtedly more significant, military event in Paris. There, the Coalition of Volunteers, a group of some thirty countries—mostly European, but also including Canada, Turkey, Japan, and Australia—met to establish the framework for the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine once a ceasefire is reached. The coalition was an initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who lead the group and will share its coordination. The coalition was launched in March and has gradually added new members. The United States attended for the first time as guests, represented by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. This coalition plans to deploy once the ceasefire is signed, something that is currently uncertain, to ensure, as Macron stated, that the agreement does not constitute "a surrender of Ukraine" and to prevent further Russian offensive actions despite the agreement.

After months of negotiations, Kyiv's allies reached an agreement on Tuesday on the framework for security guarantees that should accompany a potential ceasefire in Ukraine and a future agreement with Russia. The so-called Coalition of the Volunteers, comprised of 35 countries, met in Paris on Tuesday to give a final push to the plan that will be implemented when Russia decides to lay down its arms. One of the biggest advances is that the United States' participation is taking shape, although its role is not entirely defined, nor is its commitment as firm as the other countries hope. As stated in the final declaration, Washington will support the security guarantees.

More apocalyptic than ever, the NATO Secretary General issued a stark warning this Thursday from Berlin. Mark Rutte cautioned: "Europe is Russia's next target, and we are already in danger." Consequently, he called on Western governments to prepare for a war scenario comparable to that experienced by the continent's "grandparents and great-grandparents." "Imagine," he added, "a conflict that reaches every home, every workplace, with mass destruction and displacement, millions displaced, widespread suffering, and extreme losses. It is a terrible thought, but if we honor our commitments, this is a tragedy we can avert."

The meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, held this Friday in London and chaired by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, served little more than to showcase the unity of European and Western allies in their support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. But it also exposed, once again, the limitations of the alliance as long as the United States fails to fully engage and former President Donald Trump continues to show very contradictory signs on how to approach the relationship with Vladimir Putin.

Thursday morning Kiev experienced one of the most devastating attacks this year., the second heaviest since the start of the war: 31 ballistic missiles, more than 600 drones, and dozens of affected sites. The toll, which has been updated hourly, is this Friday morning at 23 dead, including several children, more than sixty injured, and civilian infrastructure destroyed: a shopping center, the headquarters of the European Union and the British Council, thousands of broken windows, cut power supplies, grounded families, and a city. The Kremlin thus paid for Donald Trump's supposed efforts to achieve peace. Various European and EU leaders reacted with indignation—they don't show as much in the face of what is happening in Gaza–, which is another form of impotence.

The hangover the day after Trump's meeting with Zelensky and European leaders has given way to vagueness. The more one digs into the two major announcements that came out of the White House on Monday—security guarantees for Ukraine and a future bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky—the more tensions rise. This Tuesday morning, the US president ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine as a security guarantee, and the Kremlin was stalling over the face-to-face meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. At noon, US press secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed Trump's refusal and spoke of a commitment based on "helping with coordination and perhaps providing other things to European allies." The assurance Leavitt offered regarding Putin's willingness to speak with Zelensky is yesterday's phone call.