Macron says 26 countries ready to send troops for Ukraine ceasefire

BBC:

Twenty-six Western allies have formally committed to deploying troops “by land, sea or air” to Ukraine the day after a ceasefire deal is agreed, Emmanuel Macron has said.

After a summit of 35 countries dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing”, the French president said US support for their “reassurance force” would be finalised in the coming days.

President Donald Trump recently indicated that US backing could “probably” come in the form of air support, and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken to the US president about “maximum protection for Ukraine’s skies”.

However, hopes of a deal to end the fighting have dimmed since Russia’s Vladimir Putin met Trump in Alaska last month.

Trump also said the EU should work with the US to halt imports of Russian oil and gas, to halt Russia’s “war machine by economic means”, according to an account of the phone-call from Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

The 27-member European Union has set a target of ending all gas and oil imports by the end of 2027. A White House official pointed out that Russia had received €1.1bn (£954m; $1.3bn) in fuel sales from the EU in one year, although the true figure is far higher.