France invited the foreign and defense ministers of Ukraine's main allies, as well as the NATO secretary general, to take part in a video conference on Thursday, the purpose of which — demonstrate a “united front” and develop specific proposals to strengthen support for Kyiv.
This is reported by Reuters, which received access to the invitation to the event.
New meeting to support Ukraine
The publication notes that French President Emmanuel Macron faced a wave of criticism from a number of Western allies after he openly proposed the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine following the February 26 conference on the Russian-Ukrainian war, which was held in Paris.
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The next meeting was also supposed to take place in Paris with the participation of ministers and senior diplomats from 28 countries, but it was postponed for a video call amid criticism that the meeting was too rushed, the agency noted.
— The ensuing debate only partially reflects the reality of the debate in Paris and should not overshadow our collective resolve to support Ukraine, — says the invitation, obtained by Reuters.
The invitation, sent to ministers on behalf of the French foreign and defense ministers, is also addressed to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Both of them were not invited on February 26th.
According to diplomats, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba will also take part in the videoconference.
What they want to discuss at the meeting
The invitation states that the meeting will explore ways to speed up the delivery of key capabilities, particularly the supply and production of artillery ammunition, as well as establishing a system that will allow partners to improve the way they empty ammunition stockpiles and create new options for medium- and long-range missiles.< /p>
It is also noted that, “without becoming parties to the conflict themselves”, ministers and diplomats will consider providing support in the areas of cyber defense, demining or munitions disposal, border security with Belarus and coordination production and maintenance of equipment in Ukraine.
However, the invitation does not mention the idea of sending non-combat troops to Ukraine, which French officials believe may be possible.
Another area to be discussed is — this is support for countries that are directly threatened by Russia, in particular Moldova, neighboring Ukraine.
Moldova's President Maia Sandu will arrive in Paris on Thursday for separate talks with Macron, three diplomats said.
Macron's statement on Western troops in Ukraine
Earlier, Emmanuel Macron said that Western countries “cannot rule out anything” regarding the issue of sending NATO troops to Ukraine. At the same time, he admitted that there is no consensus among European countries on this matter.
Subsequently, a number of allied countries made statements that denied the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine. For example, similar statements were made by Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, the USA and Poland.
On the other hand, the head of the Estonian government, Kaja Kallas, said that Western countries cannot exclude any means of providing assistance to Ukraine.
