US ready to provide Ukraine security guarantees, but opposes NATO membership, Macron says
Editor's Note: This article has been updated with more details about Macron's comments and the joint statement from European and U.K. leaders.
The United States is prepared to provide Ukraine with security guarantees once peace is established, but NATO membership is not on the table as a possible guarantee, French President Emmanuel Macron said Aug. 13.
Macron's remarks followed a video call with U.S. President Donald Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and several European leaders. The online talks come just two days before Trump is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15.
Speaking to reporters after the call, Macron relayed Trump's assurances that Washington was ready to support European security after the war — but ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine.
"President Trump expressed this clearly in these terms," Macron told the press.
"He even said things that are very important to me: the fact that NATO should not be part of these security guarantees, which we know is a key point for the Russian side, but that the United States and all the allies that are willing should be part of them."
Ukrainian and European leaders have long urged the U.S. to back robust security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a ceasefire agreement with Russia. The Trump administration has thus far been hesitant to commit to such guarantees, a stance that initially derailed the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal and has injected uncertainty into the plans of the so-called "coalition of the willing."
Macron hailed Washington's readiness to commit to security guarantees as a positive, despite Trump's opposition to Ukraine's NATO membership.
Zelensky has repeatedly said that NATO accession is the best possible security guarantee for postwar Ukraine. Kyiv officially applied for NATO membership in September 2022 after Russia illegally declared the annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts.
Russian propaganda frequently — and falsely — cites NATO expansion and Ukraine's NATO ambitions as a justification for the full-scale invasion. Trump himself has echoed these narratives, claiming former President Joe Biden's support for Ukraine's NATO aspirations provoked the war.
In a joint statement issued after the Aug. 13 call, Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia should not hold veto power over Ukraine's accession to the Alliance.
"No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia could not have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and NATO," the statement of the coalition of the willing read.
The coalition also reaffirmed readiness to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, "including through plans by those willing to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased."
Macron told reporters that urging Putin to commit to a ceasefire was a top priority for Trump going into the Alaska summit, and that Trump agreed that any discussions about territory required Zelensky's participation.
"(T)erritorial issues that fall under Ukraine's jurisdiction cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president," Macron said.
"This is the position we support, and it was very clearly expressed by President Trump."
Kyiv and its European allies convened the conversation with Trump to discuss the war and to express concern about the upcoming meeting, which excludes Ukraine. Leaders from Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, the European Union, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte attended the video call.
A ceasefire in Ukraine was a major topic of discussion: "President Trump said this is one of his priorities in conversation with President Putin," Zelensky told reporters during a joint press conference with Merz.
According to Merz, European leaders are doing everything they can to ensure the Trump-Putin summit moves "in the right direction," amid fears that Ukraine may be sold out by Trump.
