Ukraine backers to talk post-war guarantees at summit in Paris

PARIS: The leaders of France and the UK will on Thursday co-chair a Paris summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Elysee said, amid a new international push to broker an end to Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion.The gathering of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing”, will comprise some 30 mainly European countries. Some leaders will attend in person and others by video, the Elysee Palace said. The meeting will be chaired by President Emmanuel Macron and UK PM Keir Starmer.

The leaders will “discuss work on security guarantees for Ukraine carried out in recent weeks and take stock of the consequences to be drawn from Russia’s attitude, which stubbornly refuses peace,” the French presidency said in a statement.The source said that the main topic will be security guarantees for Ukraine and “promoting diplomacy because the Russians are wriggling out again” of the efforts to end the war. US President Trump is not expected to take part, the source added.Ministers from ‘coalition’ countries will meet on Wednesday to discuss military support for Ukraine, a spokesman for French minister Sebastien Lecornu said.