French President Emmanuel Macron said any peace deal in Ukraine must come with security guarantees, as he met US President Donald Trump at the White House for talks on the war.
“This peace must not be a surrender of Ukraine, it must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees,” he said as the two leaders held a joint news conference following their meeting on Monday.
Trump, who did not mention security guarantees himself, said the cost and burden of securing peace in Ukraine must be paid for by European nations and not just the US.
Macron responded that Europe understood the need to “more fairly share the security burden”, and added that talks on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion had shown a path forward.
The topic of including security guarantees in any peace deal was one area of difference, as was the potential next steps to end the war.
Trump said he wanted a ceasefire as soon as possible, adding that he would visit Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin once one was agreed.
Macron, however, pushed a more considered approach involving a truce and then a broader peace deal that would include guarantees for protecting Ukraine long-term.
“We want peace swiftly, but we don’t want an agreement that is weak,” he said.
The pair did agree, however, that any peace deal should include the deployment of European peacekeeping forces to Ukraine. That suggestion has been rejected outright by Russia.
Trump declined to call Putin a “dictator” after using the term last week to describe Ukraine’s president, and said he planned to meet with the Russian leader after holding a call with him last week.
“I don’t know when we’ll speak,” Trump said. “At some point I’ll be meeting with President Putin.”
He also invited Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House to conclude a deal to share some of the country’s natural resources. “He may come in this week or next week,” Trump said. “I’d love to meet him.”
And while there were no moments of open disagreement between Trump and Macron, the French president did interrupt his US counterpart in the Oval Office to push back on his claim that EU aid to Ukraine was all in the form of loans.
“No, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60% of the total effort,” Macron said.
“If you believe that, it’s OK with me,” Trump replied.
The meeting between the two leaders came on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky began the day with a news release marking “three years of absolute heroism of Ukrainians” before hosting an event with global representatives.
At the event in Kyiv, which was attended by many world leaders, he said “we hope that we can finish this war this year”.
Other leaders, including from the UK, Germany and Japan, spoke by video link. There was no US representation.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressed the recently warming relations between Moscow and Washington.
“Russia may have gained an open ear in the White House but they have not gained an inch of legitimacy,” he said.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told attendees: “We must speed up the delivery of weapons and ammunition” to Ukraine, saying the war remains “the most central and consequential crisis for Europe’s future”.
US sides with Russia at UN
Also on Monday, the US twice sided with Russia in votes at the UN related to the war in Ukraine.
The two countries first opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which was eventually passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
UNGA members backed the European resolution by 93 votes but the US did not abstain but actually voted against it, along with Russia, Israel, North Korea, Sudan, Belarus, Hungary and 11 other states.
The US and Russia then backed a US-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an end to the conflict but containing no criticism of Russia.
The Security Council resolution was passed but two key US allies, the UK and France, abstained in the vote after their attempts to amend the wording were vetoed.
Meanwhile, the EU and UK passed a fresh round of sanctions on Russia on Monday. The EU sanctions, the 16th round passed since Russia’s invasion, targets Russia’s aluminium exports, and its so-called “shadow fleet” of ships allegedly used to bypass sanctions.
The UK sanctions target machine tools and electronics used by Russia military, and the defence minister of North Korea who is allegedly responsible for deploying over 11,000 forces to Russia to assist in the war.-BBC
