26 Countries Pledge Post-War Military Backing for Ukraine, Says Macron

French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said that 26 western nations have pledged to provide post-war security guarantees to Ukraine. This would include a “reassurance force” on land, sea and in the air, Reuters reported. 

Macron made the comments after a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing” in Paris. Following the meet, Macron and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a call with United States president Donald Trump. Macron said that U.S. contributions to the guarantees would be finalised in the coming days.

The Kremlin, however, has rejected any situation where foreign troops would be stationed in Ukraine to provide security guarantees, according to Russian state media.

Macron and other European leaders had earlier met with Zelenskyy and the U.S. envoy for peace talks, Steve Witkoff, to determine long-term military support and aid in the country’s security the day after a ceasefire or peace was achieved.

The meeting of 35 leaders, mostly from European nations was conducted to finalise the security guarantees and seek Trump’s backing in the effort. The European leaders — some of whom joined the meeting virtually — said Russia must now work toward ending the fighting, and the German government suggested European sanctions on Russia would increase if Moscow dragged its feet.

Trump has called on the EU to work with the US to halt imports of Russian oil and gas, to halt Russia's "war machine by economic means", BBC reported. The EU has set a target for 2027 to halt all gas and oil imports from Russia by the end of 2027.

Starmer, who led the group along with Macron, highlighted the need for US backing to administer this plan. Starmer's office said after the meeting that the British Prime Minister “emphasised that the group had an unbreakable pledge to Ukraine, with President Trump’s backing, and it was clear they now needed to go even further to apply pressure on (Russian president Vladimir) Putin to secure a cessation of hostilities.”