Macron Says ‘Reassurance Force’ of European Troops in Ukraine Would ‘React and Respond’ to Russian Attacks

European troops that Britain and France want to send to Ukraine would be deployed to “strategic locations” to deter “Russian aggression”, but should Moscow attempt to re-invade Ukraine again they would have no choice but to “react and respond”.

The Anglo-French led force of predominantly European NATO-member state soldiers that may be sent to Ukraine to observe a ceasefire would be “under attack” in any case of Russia attempting to invade Ukraine again and would respond, French President Emmanuel Macron says.

Speaking in Paris after Thursday’s Ukraine security summit — widely called the ‘coalition of the willing’ talks — President Macron again refined his vision of European involvement in the peace process. Already proposals have been scaled back from a “peacekeeper” force of tens of thousands, possibly even a million-man-army, to what Macron now calls a “reassurance force”.

This force wouldn’t be on the front-line, Macron said, but rather would be deployed to key strategic points. This would keep the troops out of the way of Russian forces still in Ukraine in positions from ceasefire day, but would quickly see contact if Russia later broke the agreement, it was said.

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

Nevertheless, he explained: “we are not on the frontlines, we don’t go to fight, but we are there to guarantee a lasting peace. It´s a pacifist approach… 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.”

French broadsheet Le Figaro states Macron further stated that French and British army officers would be travelling to Ukraine “in the coming days” to work with Kyiv, to help them design “the Ukrainian army of tomorrow”. Macron is stated to have said questions to be answered of what that force will look like would include “What land army? What maritime capabilities? What soldiers? What equipment?”.

The Paris meeting on Thursday is only the latest in a series of European summits on Ukraine and in response to U.S. President Donald Trump moving to bring the war to a close to save lives. European nations, in most cases, want to see the war continue in hope of Russia breaking first, thereby achieving their war goals.

While these summits have been rich in talk, and declarations of support for Ukraine, they have been less effective in actually gaining solid decisions. While this is an aspect those participating might not generally like to talk up, Ukraine’s Zelensky — who presumably was hoping for more out of the meeting — wasn’t shy to say it. Per Le Figaro, he said: “As for the actions of this contingent, its responsibilities, what it can do, how it can be used, who will be responsible for it, there are many questions. So far, there are few answers”.