U.S. Envoy Meets European Leaders in Paris to Discuss Ukraine

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff gathered with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Paris, focusing on long-term American security guarantees in a potential peace agreement with Russia.

The meeting, held on Thursday, brought together a “coalition of the willing,” featuring major European countries, along with Australia, Canada, and Japan.

Notably, the U.S. is not part of this coalition, which has proposed the possibility of placing European troops in Ukraine as a deterrent to future Russian aggression.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the coalition aims to back Ukrainian security guarantees, saying, “We are ready, us Europeans, to provide security guarantees to Ukraine for when there is a signed peace.”

Macron added, “It will now be endorsed politically, and it allows us to do so in a solid way, and we will come back to you tomorrow after these meetings to say that we are ready for a robust, lasting peace for Ukraine and for the Europeans.”

However, it remains uncertain if the European plan can proceed without U.S. participation. Numerous European officials have indicated that their willingness to deploy troops is contingent on the U.S. also providing security guarantees.

Some unnamed European officials noted that Europe’s commitment to military support for Ukraine would serve to send a message to President Donald Trump, particularly given the stalemate in peace discussions since Trump met with Putin in Alaska last month.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova asserted that Moscow would reject any Western military involvement in Ukraine as part of a peace deal, arguing that this is a central issue of the conflict.

Zakharova stated, “Russia does not intend to discuss unacceptable foreign intervention in Ukraine in any form whatsoever. Western war instigators view Ukraine as a testing ground for their military developments.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte countered that Russia’s perspective on European troops in Ukraine is not relevant, emphasizing Ukraine’s sovereignty, even as Kyiv needs to negotiate with Moscow to settle the ongoing conflict.

Rutte remarked, “Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It’s a sovereign country. Russia has nothing to do with this. I think we have to stop making Putin too powerful.”

Following the discussions, Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s president’s chief of staff, emphasized the need for strong and effective security guarantees across various domains—air, sea, land, and cyberspace.

After the meeting, it was indicated that the European leaders intended to reach out to President Trump for further discussions.