French President Emmanuel Macron announced for the first time on Tuesday that the US would join a European-led security guarantee for Kiev.
Speaking after a virtual “Coalition of the Willing” meeting, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders including first-time US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Macron said a working group would begin writing Wednesday on what contributions the allies would make to deploying a reassurance force in Ukraine once a ceasefire is established.
Rubio’s attendance marks the first time a US representative has attended the coalition’s will meeting, an Elysee source told a briefing that it was significant, adding that the group would soon be rebranded as a “peace coalition.”
The source said that although the exact contribution of Ukrainian allies to the assurance force has not yet been defined, U.S. participation will likely act as a “backstop” for other partner forces that will be deployed away from frontline combat zones. France and Britain have been at the forefront of imagining what such a deployment would look like.
Macron had earlier announced that a European-led security guarantee for Ukraine would include Turkish troops and naval forces in addition to British and French troops.
“There can be neither a ceasefire nor peace if Ukrainians cannot trust that the Russians will not attack again,” the source said.
The Elysee source said Rubio had understood the importance of Ukraine making its own decisions in some areas of the proposed peace talks on the call, and said the Americans would now take the revised peace plan back to the Russians.
The Elysee source also said there had been “good progress” at Tuesday’s meeting regarding the use of frozen Russian assets in Europe.
While the final decision on their use – which has divided Europe – will be taken at December’s European Council summit, the source said the use of the funds would show Kiev and Moscow that Ukraine can move forward.
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