Governments have said any EU force would need its own US security guarantees as a backstop
UK prime minister Keir Starmer (left) with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at a European peace summit in Paris. Photo: PA
UK prime minister Keir Starmer (left) with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at a European peace summit in Paris. Photo: PA
John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau
Today at 03:30
European leaders vowed yesterday to strengthen Kyiv’s army to ensure it was the cornerstone of future security in Ukraine, while France and the UK tried to expand support for a planned foreign “reassurance force” in the event of a truce with Russia.
It was the third summit of what the UK and France have called the “coalition of the willing”, reflecting concern among Europeans that the US no longer represents a bulwark of support for Ukraine’s three-year-old fight against Russian invasion.