As the Coalition of the Willing – led by France and the UK – gathers in Paris on Thursday, European leaders are once again looking to Washington for clarity on security guarantees for Ukraine.
For months, the US has said that Europe must shoulder most of the responsibility for any post-war security arrangements for Kyiv. “We are willing and able, and we are ready,” the Élysée, which will host the talks, told reporters on the eve of the meeting.
All that’s now needed is confirmation they “indeed have the support of the US,” which promised to provide a backstop. The Europeans will call Trump after their meeting, at 2 p.m. and will then hold a press conference at 3 p.m.
But plans to station European troops in Ukraine after the war have raised questions about possible gaps elsewhere in Europe’s defenses. Trump on Wednesday even floated sending more American troops to Poland.
See the original of this commentary in Euractiv’s newsletter The Capitals here.