European leaders fail to reach agreement on sending troops to Ukraine – Politico
Pravda Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron has organised an emergency meeting with EU leaders following the US announcement of talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine without Europe’s or Kyiv’s involvement. However, despite prolonged discussions, European leaders have failed to reach a consensus on key issues, including the deployment of troops to Ukraine and security guarantees.
Source: Politico
Details: Politico reported that the emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris, which lasted 3.5 hours, “was underwhelming”.
“We realise that such meetings do not end in decisions,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after the talks.
Quote: “Leaders came up with no new joint ideas, squabbled over sending troops to Ukraine, and once again mouthed platitudes on aiding Ukraine and boosting defence spending.”
Details: US President Donald Trump ruled out the possibility of deploying American troops and granting Ukraine NATO membership, leaving the issue of security guarantees to European countries.
The US also sent a questionnaire to European NATO allies, asking them to outline their capabilities for supporting a peace agreement, but no consensus was reached.
France and the United Kingdom supported the idea of deploying peacekeeping troops, but only if the US participated.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasised that the US must serve as a “backstop” against Russian aggression.
However, Poland, a frontline state and one of Ukraine’s closest allies with one of the largest armies in Europe, refused to send its troops.
“We do not anticipate sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine,” Tusk noted in Warsaw before departing for Paris.
“Poland simply doesn’t have the additional capacity to send troops to Ukraine,” a senior Polish official stated on condition of anonymity.
He noted that Poland shares long borders with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast and Russia’s ally Belarus, which require reinforcement by Polish forces.
“The French are far away so they can send soldiers to Ukraine; we’re closed so we cannot,” the Polish official pointed out.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed that any debate on deploying peacekeepers is “completely premature” and “highly inappropriate”.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also noted that “many, many” aspects need to be clarified before sending troops, as it concerns the safety of the men and women.
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