European leaders, Zelensky to meet in Paris next week to discuss Ukraine peace plan
French President Emmanuel Macron will host European leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Paris on March 27 to discuss the peace process in Ukraine.
Participants will include the "coalition of the willing," a group of countries who have pledged to help secure a future peace in Ukraine. Germany, Poland, and the U.K. will attend next week's Paris peace talks.
"We will finalize our work on short-term support for the Ukrainian army, on defending a sustainable and durable Ukrainian army model to prevent Russian invasions, and then on the security guarantees that European armies can provide," Macron said at the end of the European Council meeting on March 20.
According to diplomats who spoke to Reuters, Zelensky will arrive in Paris on March 26 and the meetings with international leaders will take place the following day.
Earlier today, the U.S. announced plans to hold indirect talks between Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia. The negotiations are scheduled for March 24 and will involve "shuttle diplomacy," with Russian and Ukrainian representatives present in separate rooms and U.S. officials mediating.
European representatives have not been invited to participate in the Saudi Arabia talks, despite repeated appeals to include Europe in peace negotiations.
Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer have emerged as Europe's leading voices in the Russia-Ukraine peace process, lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump to provide security guarantees for Ukraine and organizing a coalition of Western allies to monitor a future ceasefire.
The upcoming Paris talks will follow recent summits organized by France and the U.K., including a virtual summit, which took place on March 15. During the summit, participating leaders discussed plans to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
