(4 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris – 4 September 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"The second element of these peace and security guarantees is what we call the reassurance forces. Indeed, today we have 26 countries that have formally committed themselves, several others are still clarifying their position, but 26 countries that have committed to deploying troops as a reassurance force in Ukraine or to being present on the ground, at sea, or in the air to provide this reassurance to Ukrainian territory and to Ukraine the day after the ceasefire or peace. This force does not have the will or the objective of waging some war against Russia, but it is a force that must guarantee peace and provide very clear a strategic signaling. It will be deployed within the framework of a ceasefire, not on the front line, but in geographies that will be defined. But they aim to prevent any new major aggression and to involve the 26 states very clearly in the lasting security of Ukraine."
2. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:
"This meeting is needed. This is not a matter of a desire, this is a matter of necessity. We supported any format, bilateral meeting, trilateral meeting, I believe that Russia does everything to defer it. American partners told us that Putin invited me to Moscow. I believe that If you want the meeting to not happen, then you have to invite me to Moscow."
3. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:
"I think that Russia having started to talk about a meeting is not bad already. However, we don’t yet see their desire to end the war. And I believe that adult leaders must leave meetings of such level with some result. Preferably, with ending the war."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have pledged to deploy troops as a “reassurance force” for the war-torn country once fighting ends in the conflict with Russia.
Macron spoke after a meeting in Paris of the so-called “coalition of the willing," a group of 35 countries who support Ukraine.
He said that 26 of the countries had committed to deploying troops in Ukraine — or to maintaining a presence on land, at sea, or in the air — to help guarantee the country’s security the day after a ceasefire or peace is achieved.
Earlier Thursday, Macron and other European leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the U.S. envoy for peace talks, Steve Witkoff, to discuss ways of ensuring long-term military support and continued American backing for Ukraine once the conflict ends. Zelenskyy also held a closed-door meeting with Witkoff.
Macron said at a news conference alongside Zelenskyy that the reassurance force “does not have the will or the objective of waging war against Russia," but will aim "to prevent any new major aggression and to involve the 26 states very clearly in the lasting security of Ukraine.”
Though details of any U.S. participation in the security guarantees remain unclear, both Macron and Zelenskyy said Washington had expressed willingness to be part of the plan, and the Ukrainian president said he was grateful about that.
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