According to a statement from the French presidency on Friday, July 10, Monday’s “Coalition of the Willing” meeting in Paris will include NATO chief Mark Rutte and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Also joining the ranks of the ‘Coalition’ for the first time are European Union membership candidates Moldova and North Macedonia. (Unsympathetic observers might think that both countries’ commitment to the project is not unconnected to their EU accession efforts.) EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa are also set to attend, albeit probably unarmed.
Formally convened to support Ukraine in its war with invader Russia, the meeting—according to France—could focus on planning for security guarantees once a ceasefire is reached between the two belligerents. The main obstacle to this is that the Coalition itself has actively opposed more viable-sounding ceasefire proposals, whether from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán or U.S. president Donald Trump.
