(AFP) – France’s defence minister is to hold talks next week with counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy, and Poland to discuss support for Ukraine, an aide said on Friday. The ministers from Europe’s five main military powers will meet in Paris on Wednesday, a day after France hosts a key meeting of European military chiefs of staff.
“In view of a recent American decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine, the ministers will discuss coordinating action of our countries in support of Kyiv,” a source close to Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, asking not to be named, told AFP. “They will also discuss the necessary rearmament of Europe and our respective countries, which is essential to guarantee our collective security in the long term.” The defence ministers of the five countries previously met in Berlin in November and in Poland in January.
European countries have been scrambling to boost support for Ukraine as US President Donald Trump pursues direct talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end Moscow’s three-year invasion of Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a defence spending surge and suggested extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners in response.
On Tuesday, France will host talks with military chiefs of staff whose nations are ready to offer Ukraine military support after any peace deal ending the war with Russia, a source close to Macron said. During a televised address on Wednesday evening, Macron confirmed he would receive the heads of the European armies next week. It has not been announced which countries will be represented at those talks.
The objective is to discuss a possible deployment of European forces in Ukraine if a peace accord is signed, to guarantee “respect” of a peace deal, he said.
– Gabbard due in Paris –
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would also be in Paris next week to meet the French national intelligence coordinator, a source close to the discussions said, confirming a report on the Intelligence Online (IOL) website. The source did not say what would be discussed.
Before she was confirmed last month, Gabbard faced questions over her 2017 meeting with now-deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and her peddling of Kremlin propaganda, particularly false conspiracy theories about the Ukraine war. France on Thursday said Paris was providing military intelligence to Ukraine, after Washington suspended sharing its own with Kyiv. Trump and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky had a public falling out in the Oval Office last week after which Ukraine’s top ally suspended crucial US military aid. CIA director John Ratcliffe said Wednesday the United States had also “paused” intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
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