We have today 26 countries that have formally committed to sending soldiers to a defense force in Ukraine or being present on the ground, at sea or in the air, says Macron at a joint press conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
If Russia continues to block concrete peace talks, further European sanctions in cooperation with the USA will follow, he adds.
Macron also says that an agreement on American support for the European-led security guarantees to Ukraine will be completed "in the coming days".
This is a first concrete step (towards security guarantees), says Zelenskyj at the press conference.
Sweden among the 26
Many leaders, including Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, participated digitally. He confirms that Sweden is one of the 26 countries, writes Aftonbladet. The exact form of Swedish support has not been announced.
A dozen leaders, including hosts President Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Finland's President Alexander Stubb, were present in Paris.
Russia has said that it cannot tolerate EU soldiers in Ukraine, something that NATO Chief Mark Rutte reacts to.
Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It's a single country. It's not up to them to decide, said Rutte according to AFP during a visit to Prague, where he warned the world against giving the Russian leader Vladimir Putin too much leeway.
If Ukraine wants security guarantees in the form of soldiers in Ukraine to support a peace agreement, then it's up to them. No one else can make that decision.
Future aggressions
The statement came hours before the Paris meeting, which was held within what has become known as the "Coalition of the Willing", a group of countries cooperating on support to Ukraine.
On the agenda was primarily security guarantees to Ukraine, intended to come into force in the event of a peace agreement regarding the full-scale Russian war of aggression that began in February 2022.
Ukraine has, among other things, requested Western soldiers on the ground to prevent future Russian aggressions. Zelenskyj has previously said that security guarantees are a prerequisite for a meeting between him and Putin.
After the meeting in Paris, Zelenskyj spoke on the phone with US President Donald Trump, who has made attempts to broker peace.
