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Top European leaders will be shuttling next week between Brussels, Kyiv, Paris, London and Washington in an effort to shore up embattled Ukraine and its leader and figure out European security policy under very changed circumstances.
On Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will mark that solemn anniversary with a visit to Kyiv. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will also be there.
But on the other side of the Atlantic on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Washington to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss Ukraine, the French Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also wants to travel to Washington next week to meet Trump, but possibly not on the same day as Macron. According to media reports, Starmer could be keen to present the concept for a peacekeeping force.
In light of Trump’s solo effort to find a possible peace solution for Ukraine, Macron held crisis talks with European heads of state and prime ministers this past Monday and then spoke to Trump on the phone. The Paris meeting discussed the question of European peacekeeping forces to secure a possible ceasefire.
The British newspapers The Times and The Guardian reported that Britain and France were pushing ahead with discussions about a European force to secure a peace agreement in Ukraine. Such a force could include fewer than 30,000 troops, the newspapers wrote, citing military sources.
“We must succeed in building a system that guarantees Ukraine’s security,” said the French Foreign Ministry. “So this may eventually happen by sending troops, but at the moment that’s not the issue.”
The first step is to obtain a security guarantee scheme. This could also include rearming and re-equipping the Ukrainian army. It could also be about Ukraine’s membership in Nato. Macron emphasised at the beginning of the week that it is not about sending troops to fight the war in Ukraine, the ministry said.


On Wednesday Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “a dictator” who has done “a terrible job” and appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war against itself.
In a clear message to Trump, European Council President Costa, writing on social media, said Zelensky was democratically elected. Sanchez wrote on social media that he is going to Kyiv on Monday “to reaffirm Spain’s support for Ukrainian democracy and President Zelensky”.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Zelensky on Thursday and stressed any deal to end the war with Russia must include Kyiv at the negotiating table, the prime minister’s office said.
Trudeau reiterated Canada’s support for Ukraine and “emphasised that there can be no sustainable peace in Europe without security for Ukraine”, according to the statement.
Also on Thursday, a news conference that was planned to follow talks between Zelensky and Trump’s Ukraine envoy was cancelled as political tensions deepened.
The event was originally supposed to include comments to the media by Zelensky and retired US Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, but it was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity where the two posed for journalists.
They did not deliver statements or field questions as expected. The change was requested by the US side, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov said.
Additional reporting by Reuters, Associated Press


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UK media reported that Britain and France were pushing ahead with discussions about a European force to secure a peace agreement in Ukraine


UK media reported that Britain and France were pushing ahead with discussions about a European force to secure a peace agreement in Ukraine.


EU leaders to head to Kyiv, Macron to visit Trump in bid to shore up support for Ukraine

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}UK media reported that Britain and France were pushing ahead with discussions about a European force to secure a peace agreement in Ukraine

UK media reported that Britain and France were pushing ahead with discussions about a European force to secure a peace agreement in Ukraine