Macron says any European force for Ukraine could ‘respond’ if attacked by Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron has said a proposed European armed force for possible deployment in Ukraine under an eventual peace deal could “respond” if Russia launched an attack.

He spoke after talks with Ukraine’s president and ahead of a summit in Paris of 30 nations on Thursday that will discuss the proposed force for Ukraine.

“If there was again a generalised aggression against Ukrainian soil, these armies would be under attack and then it’s our usual framework of engagement,” Macron said.

“Our soldiers, when they are engaged and deployed, are there to react and respond to the decisions of the commander in chief and, if they are in a conflict situation, to respond to it.”

He has been driving coalition-building efforts for a Ukraine force with UK Prime Sir Minister Keir Starmer. It is still far from clear what kind of aid they are preparing that could contribute towards their goal of making any ceasefire with Russia lasting.

Macron said the proposed European forces would not be stationed on the front lines in Ukraine, or be “engaged on the first day opposite Russian forces”.

They would “be forces that dissuade the Russians from attacking again. And by holding important towns, strategic bases, mark the clear support from several European governments and allies”.

“So we are not on the front lines, we don’t go to fight, but we are there to guarantee a lasting peace. It’s a pacifist approach,” he said.

“The only ones who would, at that moment, trigger a conflict, a bellicose situation, would be the Russians if they decided again to launch an aggression.”

Macron is expecting 31 delegations around the table on Thursday morning at the presidential Elysee Palace – more than the number for a first meeting in Paris in February — evidence that the coalition to help Ukraine, possibly with boots on the ground, is gathering steam, according to the presidential office.

But the US will not be represented at the talks.

Donald Trump’s administration has shown no public enthusiasm for the coalition’s discussions about potentially sending troops into Ukraine after an eventual ceasefire to help make peace stick.

The US president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has dismissed the idea of a European deployment or even the need for it.

“It’s a combination of a posture and a pose and a combination of also being simplistic,” he said in an interview.

That is not the view in Europe. The shared premise on which the coalition is being built is that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine — starting with the illegal seizure of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and culminating in the 2022 full-scale invasion that unleashed all-out war — shows he cannot be trusted.

They believe any peace deal will need to be backed up by security guarantees for Ukraine to deter Putin from launching another attempt to seize it.