EU Countries Disagree on Sending Peacekeeping Force to Ukraine

Outside, an image of unity; inside, an attempt to find a common position. The leaders of the main European countries gathered on Monday afternoon in Paris, feeling excluded—at least for now—from the discussions between Moscow and Washington regarding the war in Ukraine. The leaders of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, and the Netherlands sought to show some cohesion with this meeting at the Élysée, in response to the challenge posed by Donald Trump's United States' acceleration on the Ukrainian dossier and his incendiary comments during the recent Munich Conference.

Amid this delicate moment for the Old Continent, which risks being marginalised in peace negotiations of a conflict on its own soil, French President Emmanuel Macron wants to position himself as a leader capable of coordinating a response from the bloc. The Élysée tenant sees the current tumultuous situation as an opportunity to rise above the deep crisis of his presidency. Before the summit, urgently organised in recent days, he spoke by phone for 20 minutes with Trump.

"Security in Europe is at a decisive moment," assured European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on social media platform X after arriving in the French capital on Monday. The Paris meeting coincided with the arrival in Saudi Arabia of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. There, he will meet on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in the first face-to-face talks between Moscow and Washington about a potential peace agreement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Monday that he "will not participate" in Tuesday's negotiations, despite currently touring the Middle East and being in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

For now, European representatives have been sidelined from this diplomatic process. Rubio promised, however, that they will be present "in the real negotiations," scheduled for later. Faced with the risk of being mere bystanders and having their interests and those of Kyiv ignored, the main EU countries expressed their discontent and want to provide a common response. Washington and Moscow "are talking behind Ukraine's back" and "we are discussing an agreement in which Ukraine does not exist and is not involved," denounced German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "We are not at the moment of peace," he added after leaving a meeting that lasted more than three hours.

Due to the urgency with which it was convened, the meeting only included leaders from eight countries, in addition to the President of the Commission, the top head of the European Council, António Costa, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Authorities from Romania, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic expressed their discontent at not being invited, while the Hungarian government—one of the most lenient with Moscow—called the meeting "pro-war."

At the Paris summit, they discussed the start of discussions between Washington and Moscow, the possible deployment of "peace soldiers" to Ukraine, increased military spending, and the construction of the "Europe of Defence." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was the first to arrive at the Élysée, has positioned himself in favour of sending British soldiers to Ukrainian territory as a security guarantee after a potential peace agreement. France and Sweden also seem to lean towards this option, while Poland and Germany oppose it, and Spain considers it "too early" to make a decision.

Both Starmer and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, advocated on Monday for "an immediate increase" in military spending on the Old Continent. Macron also sees the current moment as an opportunity to advance the eternal promise of the "Europe of Defence." A continental debt to invest at the military level, following the example of COVID bonds, is one of the French proposals, although it does not generate consensus.

Despite efforts to stage unity, several discrepancies—the Italian Prime Minister, the right-wing Giorgia Meloni, arrived an hour late to the summit—remain among EU countries. And the Trump administration hopes to exploit them.