Vladimir Putin wants crippling sanctions ditched for Ukraine ceasefire. Europe has other ideas

While no specific date has been set, Starmer confirmed that defence chiefs from the UK, France, and Germany will meet with Ukrainian officials to co-ordinate further military assistance.

In his discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Starmer condemned Russia’s continuing attacks and accused Putin of making “hollow promises” about peace.

Zelensky, in turn, echoed the sentiment, asserting that all the leaders in Paris “understand that Russia for today doesn’t want any sort of peace”.

He insisted he was happy that with every summit “the position … is clearer and stronger,” despite natural minor differences when more than 30 countries meet in one place.

“What unites us is that everybody is in support of, speaks in support of Ukraine, for the security guarantees for us and it’s very important, they are on our side,” he said.

Macron has proposed the creation of a “reassurance force” to help secure key infrastructure in Ukraine and deter further Russian aggression.

But Russian officials have strongly opposed the idea, with foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warning that such a deployment could risk a direct military confrontation between Russian and NATO forces.

“London and Paris continue to nurture the idea of a military intervention into Ukraine. All of that is being cloaked under [the guise of] a certain peacekeeping mission,” Zakharova said.

Macron assured that the European force would be defensive, aimed at monitoring a ceasefire rather than engaging in combat.

Despite the support from some EU member states, such as Denmark and the Baltic nations, many other countries remain hesitant to commit troops to Ukraine without broader international support. Poland, Italy and Greece, for example, have expressed reluctance to participate, especially without a clear commitment from the US.

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“These reassurance forces are a British-French proposition that is desired by Ukraine,” Macron said. “It does not have unanimity, but we do not need unanimity to do this.”

Billed as a force to monitor the ceasefire line, Macron said that MFU “could be required to hold positions in the peace zone on Ukrainian territory” and would not “be engaged on the first day opposite Russian forces”.

“I think that within three to four weeks, we’ll have those two questions settled: the structure of the Ukrainian army, the reassurance forces, and a fairly precise action plan with the needs, as well as the contributors,” Macron said.

While the US has been involved in facilitating the ceasefire talks, it remains absent from the coalition discussions regarding the European peacekeeping force.

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US President Donald Trump had suggested that Washington was “looking at” Moscow’s demands to lift sanctions.

But European leaders have remained firm, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stating that the EU would not lift sanctions until Russia unconditionally withdrew its troops from Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory.

Zelensky expressed hope that the US would “stand strong” against Russia’s demands to lift sanctions, particularly as NATO’s eastern members fear the consequences of scaling back support for Ukraine.