Ukraine backers to hold new meeting over post-war guarantees – Macron

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TOULON (Reuters) -Leaders of some 30 countries that have vowed to provide Ukraine with security support once there is a peace agreement with Russia will meet next week to discuss proposals put forward by their militaries, France’s president said on Friday.

The so-called “coalition of the willing” put together by France and Britain in February has held talks for months at various levels to try and define plans on what they could contribute militarily for Ukraine to deter Russia from attacking it again once there is a final truce.

Those efforts have stalled in recent months as governments have said any European military role in or around Ukraine would need its own U.S. security guarantees as a backstop, but there had been very little sign that the Trump administration would provide those.

After a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in mid-August and a subsequent meeting between Trump and European leaders, the U.S. leader appeared for the first time to open the door to some U.S. military involvement, including air support, as long as Europe stepped up in its planning.

“Our Chiefs of Staff have done very important work since the meeting in Washington … and in the last few hours have again allowed us to finalise the contributions of each of the countries,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Toulon.

A new meeting, with some leaders attending in person and others online, will be held to discuss “the work of our Chiefs of Staff in the last few days and take stock next week after the end of the deadline which had been set for Monday a while ago,” Macron said.

The coalition is made up largely of European Union countries, but also includes Turkey, Canada and Australia.

Macron did not say when or where the meeting would take place, although Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskiy would take part.

France’s army chief said on Friday morning that military chiefs had held positive in-depth talks on Thursday and were now transferring detailed proposals to the political level.

Macron said contributions from the coalition of willing countries would centre on strengthening the Ukraine army to see who and how it would be trained, financed and equipped.

It would also look at the creation of a “reassurance force” outlining what countries would be ready to send and in what capacity whether land, sea or air.

A final element entails support forces positioned in countries neighbouring Ukraine.

(Reporting by John Irish in Paris; editing by Ingrid Melander)