‘Coalition of the Willing’ Summit Opens in Paris With Focus on Ukraine’s Defense
Leaders from Europe and beyond convened in Paris on Thursday for a high-level meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing,” with discussions centering on security guarantees for Ukraine after Russia’s refusal to accept peace proposals last month.
The Gaze reports this, referring to European Pravda.
French President Emmanuel Macron, hosting the summit at the Élysée Palace, was joined in person by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and seven EU heads of state and government, including Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Macron said ahead of the meeting that allies had finalized the framework for long-term security guarantees for Kyiv and that the proposals were ready for political endorsement.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon were among nearly 30 leaders joining remotely.
Austria, Iceland, and Turkey were represented at the ministerial or vice-presidential level.
In total, representatives from 33 countries are taking part, though Slovakia, Hungary, and Malta are notably absent.
“Heads of state and government will discuss the work on security guarantees for Ukraine, which the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been carrying out over the past weeks; they will draw conclusions from Russia’s refusal to accept peace after the meeting in Washington on August 18,” the Élysée Palace statement reads.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff attended the meeting in Paris, with a follow-up call planned with U.S. President Donald Trump later in the day.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday to coordinate their positions ahead of a high-level meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing.”