With anger in Europe which abandons itself the abandonment perceived by President Trump of the continent, President Emmanuel Macron of France brought together on Tuesday the chiefs of staff of more than 30 armed forces to review the formation of a multinational peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire in Ukraine.
A brief declaration of the French presidency at the end of the meeting said that the chiefs of staff concluded an agreement according to which any force sent to Ukraine must be credible and designed for a long-term commitment, must provide unfailing support to the Ukrainian army and must not be disconnected from NATO and its “capacities”.
Mr. Macron said: “This is the moment that Europe has its total weight, for Ukraine and for itself.”
The countries represented at the meeting, summoned in partnership with Great Britain, were mainly European but included Japan, Canada, Turkey and New Zealand. Large attendance has reflected a great dismay of Mr. Trump’s “break” in American military aid to Ukraine and his embrace of President Vladimir V. Putin from Russia. Shortly after the meeting, the United States said it would take the break on intelligence sharing and would resume military aid to Ukraine.
“I think that the moment is important and that your presence sends a real signal here,” said General Thierry Burkhard, French military chief of staff, to the officials gathered at the start of the meeting, according to images published by the French army.
There is almost unanimity in Europe that Ukraine is its first line against Moscow and that the defense of Ukraine is equal to the defense of the continent. There was a sea change. A Europe which was happy at length to take advantage of a peace dividend after the Cold War is now in mood bristling with rearmament.
“Everything you need” were the words this month of the new German Chancellor this month, Friedrich Merz, to describe “the rule for our defense”, given the change of American strategy. It was a powerful declaration of emancipation for a German Republic created and shaped by the United States after the Second World War.
“Who can believe that today Russia will stop in Ukraine?” Mr. Macron asked in a speech from the nation last week. “While I speak, and for years to come, Russia has become a threat to France and for Europe.”
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Added Tuesday The fact that the new challenge is confronted with Europe was “not so much the Russian threat as above all the unpredictability of our American partner”.
How and where any European peacekeeping force would unfold in Ukraine is not clear. Any truce, not to mention peace, appeared distant as a Ukrainian delegation met the American envoys, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Saudi Arabia. Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, said last month that such a European deployment was “clearly unacceptable”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, from Ukraine, convinced that Mr. Putin cannot trust, spoke of the need for a security force of 200,000 soldiers, but that appears far beyond the capacity of Europe. A deployment to tens of thousands of thousands seems more plausible, designed to be a credible means of deterrent, perhaps supplemented by an Air Force contingent to enforce an area of non-theft.
“I would perhaps see 15,000 to 20,000 European soldiers, enough to dissuade, but not as big as to be seen by Moscow as a body of NATO battle,” said Camille Grand, defense expert at the European Council for Foreign Relations in Brussels. “You will want three lines of defense – first the Ukrainian army, secondly this European reassurance force and on the horizon an ability to strengthen this with air power.”
Trump seriously moved a security consideration at a television meeting with Mr. Zelensky at the White House last month, which turned into an angry confrontation.
“We are going to conclude an agreement, and when the agreement is concluded, I do not think we are talking about security,” said Trump, suggesting that Mr. Putin could trust him.
The question of whether European force is conceivable, given Russian hostility and the possible lack of American support in the critical fields, including intelligence, is an open question. The possibility that these troops be trained in the conflict if they are targeted by Russia, despite the commitment of Mr. Macron that they “would not engage in the front line fight” is another complicating factor.
Beyond the close question of deployment, Europe has embarked on an emergency in the quest for the construction of a credible European army, a discussion which will continue in Paris among the ministers of defense of France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Poland on Wednesday. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine will join virtually.
How to fight together, accelerating the production of ammunition and preparation for preparation are fundamental questions. Replacement of what the United States provides – including intelligence capacities, space capacity, strategic transport and air supply in the air – is equivalent to a huge company.
But the need for a clear direction change is strongly felt. Through Europe, the mockery of Mr. Trump, combined with anger and astonishment, has regularly spread, even if the president has support among far -right parties and people tired of the domination of the liberal elites.
A virulent speech this month Through a centrist French senator, Claude Malhuret, has become viral in Europe and the United States, with millions of views.
“We were at war with a dictator,” said Malhuret, referring to Mr. Putin. “Now we fight a dictator supported by a traitor.”
He suggested that Mr. Trump had treated Mr. Zelensky as “a stable boy” and describes Mr. Trump’s policies as “more than an illiberal drift, a beginning of the confiscation of democracy”.
“Washington has become the court of Nero,” he said, alluding to the tyrannical Roman emperor, “with an incendiary emperor, subjected courtiers and a buffoon on the ketamine responsible for serving the public service.” The “buffoon” was an apparent reference to Elon Musk.
During subsequent interviews, Malhuret said he expressed what the Americans seemed to be afraid of saying in the growing climate of the first weeks of Mr. Trump caused. Admittedly, he captured feelings that propel Europe towards a military renaissance.
