‘Coalition of Willing' Summit on Supporting Ukraine Begins in Paris

A meeting of the leaders of the so-called Coalition of the Willing has begun in Paris to discuss support for Ukraine, the Ukrainian president's press service reports.  

The event is being attended by the presidents of Ukraine, France, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, the acting president of Romania, the German chancellor, as well as the prime ministers of the UK, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Sweden.

In addition, the Vice President of Turkey, the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, and the NATO Secretary General are attending the summit. Austria, Australia and Canada are represented at ambassadorial level.  

The leaders will discuss continued steadfast support for Ukraine, strengthening its army and defence industry.

They will also consider the negotiation process to establish peace, mechanisms for implementing the first steps towards a ceasefire, and the possibility of deploying a US-backed guarantee force in Ukraine as part of a future peace settlement.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of Britain and France, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, held their first talks before the start of the meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’.

Starmer and Macron are jointly chairing today's meeting of the Coalition.

As The Gaze reported, on 15 March, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a virtual meeting of world leaders to discuss sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. This meeting was a follow-up to the summit in London that took place this month, where the British leader announced the creation of a ‘coalition of the willing’.