Europe opposes a ceasefire without a peace agreement in Ukraine

^{Photo: Reuters}
The leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Poland, Italy, Spain and Denmark confirmed their readiness to provide security guarantees for Ukraine in the future at an unscheduled summit in Paris. However, Europe's next steps in this regard will depend on the actions of the United States. This was reported by Reuters, citing a European diplomat familiar with the topics to be discussed at the crisis meeting in Paris on Tuesday night, February 18.

"We are ready to provide security guarantees, the terms of which will be discussed with each side, depending on the level of American support," the agency quoted the source as saying.

According to the diplomat, European leaders also drew attention to the potential danger of a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine being implemented without a full peace agreement being signed.

London has called on the European Union to "take responsibility for its own security"

The main topic of the Paris summit was how Europe should respond to the sharp changes in US policy towards Ukraine. Without warning Kiev, representatives of US President Donald Trump began to discuss the end of Russia's war in Ukraine directly with the Kremlin, and the conditions proposed by Washington for control of Ukraine's rare metals did not include security guarantees for the country.

No official statement was made on the results of the summit, but its participants later provided comments to the media. Thus, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that all participants in the meeting "have similar views" on the current situation, but did not specify what was being discussed.

In turn, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on European Union countries to “recognize that we are entering a new era and to stop clinging hopelessly to the comforts of the past.”

“It is time for us to take responsibility for our own security, for our continent,” the minister said. But Kiev needs additional help from Washington, he said, “because only US security guarantees can effectively deter Russia from a new attack on Ukraine.” Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”