French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, March 26, warned Russia was still showing a "desire for war" despite efforts to forge a ceasefire in Ukraine, ahead of a summit aimed at boosting Ukrainian security under a potential truce brokered by the United States. On Thursday, Macron is to welcome European leaders alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree on what security guarantees Europe can offer Ukraine should a ceasefire deal be reached.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier that Washington will examine Russia's requested conditions, but cautioned that a peace deal would take time. In a sign of the tension ahead, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of derailing an initial deal that could see them halt attacks in the Black Sea and against energy infrastructure.
Speaking alongside Zelensky in Paris, Macron said this was a "decisive phase to put an end to the war of aggression" waged by Russia, as the United States reaches out to Moscow in search of a deal.
Macron also announced a new French $2.2-billion military aid package for Ukraine, with Paris ready to rapidly ship existing hardware from its stocks. He said Russia must accept a 30-day ceasefire offered by Ukraine "without preconditions," accusing Moscow of still showing a "desire for war" and hailing Kyiv for having "taken the risk of peace."
'We expect the same commitment from Russia'
Macron accused Russia of making "new conditions" and not responding to the ceasefire offer. "Ukraine has clearly expressed to the United States its agreement to a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, even though it is the victim of the aggression," said Macron. "We expect the same commitment from Russia," he added.
Speaking during a visit to Jamaica, Rubio said the ceasefire "won't be simple." "It'll take some time, but at least we're on that road and we're talking about these things," he said. President Vladimir Putin had ordered a 30-day truce on energy infrastructure targets last week, but Kyiv says Russian strikes on such sites have continued.
Zelensky said he was expecting "strong decisions" from the meeting on Thursday. "Now is definitely not the time to reduce pressure on Russia or weaken our unity for the sake of peace," he said. In an interview with European public broadcasters, he said Putin's "main aim is to divide and weaken" European unity. "He is trying to hit Europe from within, he has partly succeeded through the position of Hungry (...) its leaders," which regularly block EU sanctions against Russia, Zelensky said.
European troops
Once a settlement is reached, one key element could be sending European forces to ensure Russia does not attack Ukraine again. Zelensky said it was too early to discuss specific roles of future European forces in Ukraine, after a key aide, Igor Zhovkva, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris that Ukraine needed a robust European presence and not just peacekeepers.
The Ukrainian leader said the question now was about "who will be ready" to take part in such missions. "It's too early to say," he said, referring to what role the forces could play. He added, "No one wants to drag any country into a war." He said European contingents would be important for control and to ensure that Russia does not send in its forces again.
Macron stressed that European forces would not be in Ukraine to fight. "It is a pacificist approach," he said. But the French president also outlined how the situation on the ground could look after a ceasefire, with a dividing line. The question will be "what the mechanism" will be to monitor the peace, he said. A European force could be "a card in the hand of the Ukrainians" that would "dissuade the Russians" from launching another attack, he explained. But such a force would not be on the front line, he added.