PARIS(National Times)- Leaders of Ukraine\u2019s allies gathered Tuesday in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country\u2019s security after a potential ceasefire in its war with Russia. But prospects for progress are uncertain, with the Trump administration\u2019s focus shifting to Venezuela while U.S. suggestions of a Greenland takeover are causing tension with Europe.Before the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, French President Emmanuel Macron had expressed optimism about the latest gathering of so-called \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d nations. For months, they have been exploring how to deter any future Russian aggression should it agree to stop fighting Ukraine. In a Dec. 31 address, Macron said that allies would \u201cmake concrete commitments\u201d at the summit \u201cto protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace.\u201d Macron\u2019s office said Tuesday\u2019s meeting will gather an unprecedented number of officials attending in person, with 35 participants including 27 heads of state and government. Trump\u2019s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, arrived at the Elysee presidential palace in the morning for preparatory talks ahead of the summit. A series of meetings on the summit\u2019s sidelines illustrated the intensity of the diplomatic effort and the complexity of its moving parts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived for a meeting with Macron, with the U.S. team due to join them afterward for a working lunch, ahead of the summit. A news conference including Zelenskyy, Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was planned for the end of the day. Macron\u2019s office said the U.S. delegation was initially set to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who changed his plans for reasons related to the military intervention in Venezuela. Moscow has revealed few details of its stance in the monthslong U.S.-led peace negotiations. Officials have reaffirmed Russia\u2019s demands and have insisted there can be no ceasefire until a comprehensive settlement is agreed. The Kremlin has ruled out the deployment of troops from NATO countries on Ukrainian soil. Tension rises over Greenland comments
Witkoff and Kushner arrived in the French capital after Trump on Sunday renewed his call for the U.S. to take control of Greenland, a strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom on Tuesday joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in defending Greenland\u2019s sovereignty in the wake of Trump\u2019s comments about Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of the kingdom of Denmark. But the continent also needs U.S. military might to back up any Ukrainian security guarantees and ward off Russia\u2019s territorial ambitions. That could require a delicate diplomatic balancing act in Paris. Participants are seeking concrete outcomes on five key priorities once fighting ends: ways to monitor a ceasefire; support for Ukraine\u2019s armed forces; deployment of a multinational force on land, at sea and in the air; commitments in case there\u2019s another Russian aggression; and long-term defense cooperation with Ukraine. But whether that\u2019s still achievable Tuesday isn\u2019t so clear now, as Trump deals with the aftermath of his decision to effect leadership change in Venezuela. Ukraine seeks firm guarantees from Washington of military and other support seen as crucial to securing similar commitments from other allies. Kyiv has been wary of any ceasefire that it fears could provide time for Russia to regroup and attack again. Before the U.S. military operation targeting Maduro, Witkoff had indicated progress in talks about protecting and reassuring Ukraine. In a Dec. 31 post, Witkoff tweeted that \u201cproductive\u201d discussions with him, Rubio and Kushner on the U.S. side and, on the other, national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine had focused on \u201cstrengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart.\u201d France, which with the United Kingdom has coordinated the monthslong, multination effort to shore up a possible ceasefire, has only given broad-brush details about the plan\u2019s scope. It says Ukraine\u2019s first line of defense against a Russian resumption of war would be the Ukrainian military and that the coalition intends to strengthen it with training, weaponry and other support. Macron has also spoken of European forces potentially being deployed away from Ukraine\u2019s front lines to help deter future Russian aggression. Zelenskyy said during the weekend that potential European troop deployments still face hurdles, important details remain unfinalized, and \u201cnot everyone is ready\u201d to commit forces. He noted that many countries would need approval from parliament even if leaders agreed to military support for Ukraine. But he recognized that support could come in forms other than troops, such as \u201cthrough weapons, technologies and intelligence.\u201d Zelenskyy said that post-ceasefire deployments in Ukraine by Britain and France, Western Europe\u2019s only nuclear-armed nations, would be \u201cessential.\u201d \u201cSpeaking frankly as president, even the very existence of the coalition depends on whether certain countries are ready to step up their presence,\u201d Zelenskyy said. \u201cIf they are not ready at all, then it is not really a \u2018coalition of the willing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS(National Times)- Leaders of Ukraine\u2019s allies gathered Tuesday in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country\u2019s security after a potential ceasefire in its war with Russia. But prospects for progress are uncertain, with the Trump administration\u2019s focus shifting to Venezuela while U.S. suggestions of a Greenland takeover are causing tension with Europe.Before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n