Summit / Photo: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Telegram
During the summit of the “coalition of the willing” held on 27 March in Paris, the leaders of 31 states, as well as representatives of the EU and NATO, reaffirmed their strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. According to DW, citing an EU diplomat, the participants of the meeting declared their intention to assist Kyiv until a “lasting and just peace” is achieved.
A new large-scale support package was announced at the summit:
– €17 billion in additional military aid;
– 2 million units of artillery ammunition;
– Increased coordination between EU countries to better respond to the needs of the Armed Forces;
– strengthening cooperation with the Ukrainian defence industry;
– Continuation of the EU mission to train Ukrainian soldiers.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who attended the summit in person, thanked allies for their support, particularly France and the United Kingdom, and stressed the importance of planning for long-term security. He raised a number of key questions: “Which countries will be involved on the ground, in the air and at sea in Ukraine? Where exactly will these forces be deployed? What will be their size and structure? And when will our coalition actually deploy forces in Ukraine – after the ceasefire or after the war is over?”
This is the third meeting in the “coalition of the willing” format initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The format is growing amid the Donald Trump administration’s growing rapprochement with Russia and its demands for sanctions relief in exchange for a partial ceasefire.
The Russian side, commenting on the talks in Riyadh, stressed that a truce in the Black Sea is possible only after the lifting of some sanctions.
With the Paris summit, the West once again demonstrated that its support for Ukraine is not waning – even amid complex global diplomatic manoeuvres and Moscow’s attempts to impose its own terms for ending the war.
