Europe to guarantee Ukraine’s security ‘on the day’ peace deal is signed—Macron

He made the remarks before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris ahead of the Sept. 4 “coalition of the willing” summit.

“Tomorrow, several European leaders and leaders from around the world—35 participants in this coalition—will join us via secure videoconference,” Macron said. 

“We will devote the summit at the level of heads of state and government to the work our military commanders have been conducting since mid-August, after the [Aug. 18] Washington summit. That work allows me to say today that we, Europeans, are ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and Ukrainians on the day a peace agreement is signed.”

He said that commitments agreed at the Washington summit already have been drafted and confirmed by defense ministers in a confidential session and now await political approval.

“This preparatory work is complete; it will now be approved at the political level, and it will allow us to state firmly…, that we are ready for a strong, lasting peace for Ukraine and for Europe,” the French president added.

At the same time, Macron noted that the key question is how committed Moscow is to ending the war.

“My only message this evening is the extraordinarily intensive work of recent weeks and that we are ready for these security guarantees—that Europe is, for the first time, ready for such a level of commitment and intensity, because the security of Ukraine and Ukrainians today and tomorrow is also our security and Europe’s security,” he said.