President Donald Trump’s administration and Ukraine’s allies converged toward an agreement to offer security guarantees long sought by Kyiv during a Tuesday meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff, who represented the US at the Paris gathering, said they made significant progress and “largely finished the security protocols.” France and the UK separately pledged to send troops to Ukraine as part of a so-called reassurance force in the event of a peace deal.
European, Canadian and other leaders met with US officials including Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. They discussed a plan to end Russia’s four-year war and measures to prevent further attacks if a peace agreement with Russia is achieved.
“The statement from the coalition of the willing for the first time reflects an operational convergence between the 35 countries of the coalition of the willing, Ukraine and the US to build robust security guarantees,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after the meeting.
Macron said the US security guarantees discussed amounted to the “backstop” Ukraine’s allies have long been seeking. Discussions will continue among the allies on Wednesday in Paris.
A statement after the meeting proposed a ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism, led by the US, to identify breaches of a potential ceasefire, determine responsibility and establish remedies.
They also pledged to continue long-term military assistance to Ukraine and to establish a multinational force to prepare “reassurance measures” in the air, on land and at sea. These will be led by European countries with assistance from non-European members of the coalition.
The talks in the French capital sought to build on momentum as European capitals latch on to US commitments for security guarantees, potentially advancing Trump’s ambition to end Russia’s war. But the Kremlin has given little indication of whether it would accept the transatlantic diplomatic foray.
Any deal on guarantees would require approval by Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also warned that the progress reached Tuesday is “still not enough to have peace.”
“The president strongly stands behind security protocols,” Witkoff told reporters after the meeting. “‘They are as strong as anyone has ever seen.” Kushner concurred, adding that the talks were a “very big milestone” with “most if not all issues” having been resolved.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said ahead of the meeting that details may not be finalized in Paris, noting they could be “improved or adjusted” further.
“This is not a make or break,” Carney told reporters. “There’s a lot of momentum in this process.”
The role and scope of a Western troop presence in Ukraine as part of a postwar deal remains unclear. European nations have discussed deploying a multinational “reassurance force,” with Ukraine’s army leading its defense at the front line.
Territory remains the toughest sticking point, with Russia demanding that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the eastern Donbas region — including areas that Moscow has struggled to take since the war began in February 2022. Zelenskiy has repeatedly rejected the demand.
The Ukrainian president has said he’s asked Trump for security guarantees that could cover a period as long as half a century. Current proposals set out a 15-year term with the possibility of an extension.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signaled that Germany is ready to contribute troops for a peace-keeping mission in Ukraine once a ceasefire agreement has been sealed with Russia.
“We need strong, legally binding security guarantees from all of us, including from the US — and a strong American backstop to secure European commitment,” Merz said. “I am very grateful that the US has been prepared to do this for some time now.”
With assistance from Michael Nienaber.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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