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Kathmandu. Military chiefs from 30 European and NATO countries are meeting in Paris on Tuesday, eager to provide security guarantees to Ukraine after talks with Russia. More than three years after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine, Europe is struggling to boost its security and wean itself off its dependence on the United States.
The moves come as US President Donald Trump is upending the transatlantic alliance and seeking a rapprochement with Moscow. Trump has resumed communication with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and has been critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump plans to force Ukraine to accept a deal between Kiev and European allies to side with Russia.
Trump has also suspended military aid and intelligence-sharing to Kiev. A Ukrainian official said Ukraine had proposed an air and naval ceasefire with Russia in talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The French military said a meeting of military chiefs from 30 European and NATO nations, including Britain and Turkey, would be held in Paris on the same day.
President Emmanuel Macron, who said he was working closely with NATO military commanders, will address the meeting. Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leading efforts to form a so-called “coalition of the willing” to implement a possible ceasefire in Ukraine. The defense ministers of Europe’s five major military powers – France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Poland – will then meet in the French capital on Wednesday.
The talks will focus on the “necessary rearmament of Europe” and military support for Ukraine, an aide to the French defense minister said. Starmer will hold virtual talks on Saturday with leaders of nations willing to back a ceasefire, his office said. Macron said last week that any European troops would only be deployed in Ukraine “once a peace agreement has been signed to ensure it is fully respected.” He also said he was ready to discuss expanding France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army after the United States and a Black Sea coastline, is seeking to play a key role in Europe’s security as Washington shifts its focus away from the region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has backed Zelensky’s call for an air and naval ceasefire.
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