On Monday 1 September, the Élysée announced that French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would co-chair a meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in hybrid format at the Élysée Palace on Thursday, in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The Heads of State or Government will discuss the work carried out in recent weeks on security guarantees for Ukraine and take stock of the consequences to be drawn from Russia’s stubborn refusal to accept peace”, according to the Élysée Palace.
“We will work with our partners, in conjunction with NATO, to define robust security guarantees for Ukraine. These are a necessary precondition for credible progress towards peace”, said Mr Macron on X, after talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on 31 August, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that Europe was working on “fairly precise plans” for the possible military deployment in Ukraine of “multinational troops with American support” as part of these guarantees. According to her, “President Trump has assured us that there will be an American presence as part of the safety net”.
On 23 August, Mr Zelensky announced that the security guarantees would be ready “in the next few days”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)