France hosts a European summit to provide "security guarantees" for Ukraine while Moscow warns against any intervention

The French capital Paris is hosting a summit for European leaders today, Thursday, September 4, as part of what is known as the "Alliance of the Willing" to support Ukraine, to discuss providing urgent security guarantees for Kyiv, at a time when Moscow rejects any foreign intervention "in any form".

The announcement of the summit came after French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Wednesday, during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that "we Europeans are ready to provide security guarantees for Ukraine and Ukrainians as soon as a peace agreement is signed" to end the war that erupted following the Russian invasion in 2022.

Macron added: "The contributions that were prepared, documented, and confirmed this afternoon at the level of defense ministers, in complete secrecy, allow me to say: it is done, this preparatory work has been completed, and it will now be politically adopted." He continued, saying: "We are ready for a strong and lasting peace for Ukraine and Europeans," but he added that "the question now is to know how sincere Russia is."

For its part, Russia announced its firm rejection of any such move. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Vladivostok: "Russia has no intention of discussing foreign intervention in Ukraine," warning that such intervention "in any form or shape will be completely unacceptable and will undermine any form of security."

Zakharova considered the proposed security guarantees "completely unacceptable," explaining: "These are not security guarantees for Ukraine, but dangerous guarantees for the European continent."

While European leaders are tight-lipped about the specific details of the expected guarantees, information suggests that they are expected to include the deployment of European forces in Ukraine and training for the Ukrainian army, while the United States will play a supportive role in these arrangements.

This comes at a time when the French president, as reported in the news, "has repeatedly questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements to his American counterpart Donald Trump regarding his desire for peace."

For his part, the Ukrainian president expressed his skepticism about Moscow's intentions, saying: "Unfortunately, we have not yet seen any signs from Russia showing that it wants to put an end to the war." He expressed confidence that "the United States and European countries will support Kyiv in increasing pressure on Russia to move towards a diplomatic solution."