Key points
- Europe promises security guarantees for Ukraine
- Russia rejects foreign troop deployment
- US support likely, but no troops
ISLAMABAD: European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are to meet in Paris today in a new effort to pile pressure on Vladimir Putin after he vowed Russia will fight on in Ukraine if no peace deal is reached.
Frustration has been building in the West over what leaders say is the Russian president’s unwillingness to strike a deal to end Moscow’s three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, reports AFP.
Zelensky to meet European allies in Paris as Putin vows to press on in Ukraine
➡️ https://t.co/aRl8Hv7s91 pic.twitter.com/JSNrgaSxX7— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) September 4, 2025
The summit, to be co-chaired by the leaders of France and the UK, aims to firm up plans on security guarantees for Ukraine if or when there is a ceasefire, and get a clearer picture of US involvement.
However, Russia has heaped scorn on such assurances, and Putin himself has said Moscow is willing to “resolve all our tasks militarily” in the absence of an agreement.
Security guarantees
“We are ready, we the Europeans, to offer the security guarantees to Ukraine and Ukrainians the day that a peace (accord) is signed,” French President Emmanuel Macron said late Wednesday, speaking alongside Zelensky.
Macron said the details of the guarantees were “extremely confidential,” but the “preparation was completed” at an earlier meeting of defence ministers.
🇺🇦🇷🇺 “Donald asked me to (meet with Zelensky), I said yes.
If Zelensky is ready, he can come to Moscow and a meeting will take place”
— Putin pic.twitter.com/SfoZe1x3EG— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) September 3, 2025
European leaders have been tight-lipped about the nature of the guarantees, which are expected to include the deployment of European troops to Ukraine, training, and “backstop” support from the United States.
Zelensky, for his part, said he was confident Kyiv’s allies would help “increase pressure on Russia to move towards a diplomatic solution”.
But he also added: “Unfortunately, we have not yet seen any signs from Russia that they want to end the war.”
Absolutely unacceptable
Hours before the talks were due to begin, Russia’s foreign ministry said the notional guarantees for Ukraine were “absolutely unacceptable”.
“They are not guarantees of Ukraine’s security, they are guarantees of danger to the European continent,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the sidelines of an economic forum in Russia’s far east.
She added that Russia would not consider the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine “in any format”.
In an interview with French magazine Le Point published ahead of the summit, Zelensky said European security guarantees “might not be enough” to prevent Putin from starting a new war.
“We need an alliance between Europe and the United States,” he said.
The summit will be followed by phone talks with US President Donald Trump, to begin at 1200 GMT, and then a 1300 GMT press conference.
High-profile trips
The gathering takes place following Putin’s high-profile trips to China and the United States.
Speaking earlier Wednesday in Beijing, where he attended a massive military parade alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin hailed his forces’ progress in Ukraine.
He said Russian troops were advancing on “all fronts” and had hobbled Ukraine’s army so much it could no longer mount an offensive.
In unprecedented scenes, Putin was pictured shaking hands and chatting with Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they walked down a red carpet by Tiananmen Square.
European peacekeeping plan
Last month, Trump rolled out a red carpet for Putin in Alaska, but those talks yielded no breakthrough.
Trump has indicated the United States could back up any European peacekeeping plan, but would not deploy US soldiers to Ukraine.
European leaders have been growing exasperated with Putin, sharpening their criticism and warning that the Ukraine war could last for many more months.
“Putin is a war criminal,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on X on Tuesday.
“He is perhaps the most severe war criminal of our time that we see on a large scale. We must be clear about how to deal with war criminals: leniency is out of place here.”
Earlier, Kyiv had rejected a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Moscow, according to Russia Today.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, Putin suggested that Zelensky could travel to the Russian capital to negotiate peace terms. Hungary, Switzerland, and Türkiye are among the countries that previously expressed readiness to host the talks.
