Europeans back strong Ukraine army, differ on future 'reassurance force'

PARIS (Reuters) -European leaders vowed on Thursday to strengthen Kyiv's army to ensure it was the cornerstone of future security in Ukraine, while France and Britain tried to expand support for a planned foreign "reassurance force" in the event of a truce with Russia.

It was the third summit of what Britain and France have called the "coalition of the willing", reflecting concern among Europeans that the U.S. no longer represents a bulwark of support for Ukraine's three-year-old fight against Russian invasion.

Progress on what role Europe might play in providing peacetime security guarantees is proving difficult with the prospect of a ceasefire distant and much dependent on how Russia responds and to what extent the U.S. would support its allies.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said building up Ukraine's armed forces through additional funding was an important part of the conversation.

A Franco-British military delegation will soon head to Ukraine to consider how its army could take shape in the long term. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters a Ukrainian army of between 500,000 and 1 million would be a first line of defence in the event of a peace deal.

Zelenskiy told reporters he had been encouraged by the promises for now and after the war.

"It's obvious that the strength and size of the Ukrainian army will always be a key guarantee of our security. So we need to build everything around that - our defence forces, their equipment, their technology, their effectiveness - this is the foundation," he said after more than four hours of talks with some 30 leaders.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who co-hosted with French President Emmanuel Macron, said leaders had agreed Ukraine needed more support to be in the strongest possible position for any peace process, without elaborating.

Beyond France committing some 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in new aid, including warplanes and missiles, there were no specific announcements.

Europe is under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to assume much more of its own security burden, but the continent's anaemic growth and high levels of debt have complicated the task.

FRANCE AND BRITAIN TRY TO MARSHAL EUROPEAN FORCE

Paris and London have already been working for weeks with allies on plans for a future land, air and sea "reassurance force", which could include troops based in Ukraine, to deter Russia from future aggression once there is a peace deal.

But diplomats say sending such a force to Ukraine itself is not the likeliest outcome, although bolstering NATO forces in neighbouring countries could be an option.

Even so, Macron was adamant the force would eventually come together and said Europe should prepare to go ahead even if U.S. support was lacking.

He said a number of countries had agreed to pursue the idea of sending troops, some could contribute air and maritime assets, and others remained opposed.

"It was not unanimous today, as we all know - and we don't need unanimity," Macron told a news conference.

He said one task for the British and French military delegations was to better understand Ukraine's needs, including where reassurance forces should be deployed.

"There are many questions about the modality of this contingent," Zelenskiy said. "So far, there are few answers."

Governments have said any European force would need its own U.S. security guarantees as a backstop, but there has so far been no sign that the Trump administration would provide those.

The United States did not attend the meeting but Macron said he would share the results with Trump.

"We need to accelerate our ability to finance, deliver weapons and prepare the outline of the Ukrainian army and the outline of the reassurance force," Macron said.

Some European allies have baulked at the prospect of sending troops without U.S. guarantees and an international mandate. They worry about the cost, about shortages of manpower and equipment, and about the prospect of ending up fighting Russia.

"The debate on sending troops from concrete countries is premature," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters.

"The idea still is that, if we debate something like that in Europe, there should be some kind of a safeguard from the United States."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Washington should be invited to future talks, according to her office.

There was broad agreement at the summit that it would be a strategic error to ease sanctions on Russia prematurely. Moscow has made the easing of certain sanctions a condition for a Black Sea ceasefire deal to take effect.

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(Additional reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome and William James in LondonEditing by Rod Nickel, Frances Kerry, Gareth Jones and Kevin Liffey)