The meeting of the “willing” that sees the leaders of the European supporting countries of Ukraine began in presence and online to demonstrate their determination to provide guarantees of security and to ask Donald Trump what the contribution of the United States will be, once the fire is in force.
The summit participates about 35 heads of state and government under the guidance of French president Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The United States are represented at the meeting by Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump will connect by videoconference at 2 pm. Macron and Zelensky, present at the Elysée, will then hold a press conference at 3 pm. In addition to Zelensky, seven European leaders, including the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Danish puts Frederiksen, are present at the Eliseo. Among these, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, the Belgian Bart de Wever, the Finnish Alexander Stub as in addition to the leaders of the EU Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa. Keir Starmer participates remotely, as well as the German Friedrich Merz and Giorgia Meloni.
Some allies hesitate pending the American contribution, which several European countries consider essential before any commitment. Until one ceased the fire, “there will certainly be no deployment of troops in Ukraine and not even” after “, recalled Chancellor Merz. Germany instead intends to contribute to strengthening Ukraine’s anti -aircraft defense and equipping its land forces. Russia insists that it will not accept any “foreign intervention in any form”: the spokesman for foreign policy Maria Zakharova who described the protections required by Kiev as “guarantees of danger for the European continent”. “It is not up to them to decide,” Mark Rutte replied today on behalf of NATO during a visit to Prague.
During a meeting with six European leaders on August 18 in Washington, Trump promised that the United States would provide security guarantees, without specifying which ones. This American “security network”, or “backstop” in English, could take different forms – intelligence, logistical support, communications – but the American president has excluded the sending of American land troops. In the meantime, Vladimir Putin, who returned overwhelmingly to the international scene with a very significant presence yesterday alongside the Chinese president Xi Jinping and the North Korean leader Kim Jong Uno a Beijing, relaunches on the Ukrainian objectives by claiming that Moscow will reach them with military means if the negotiations with Kiev should fail. In the meantime, the Russian forces will continue the offensive throughout the front.