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.

Speaking after a summit of 35 countries dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing”, the French president accused Russia of trying to delay the peace process to buy more time to seize more Ukrainian territory.

Hopes of a Ukraine-Russia summit to end the fighting have receded since Russia’s Vladimir Putin met Donald Trump in Alaska last month.

Trump spoke to the Western allies over the phone on Thursday, and Macron said US support would be finalised in the coming days.
More than three-and-a-half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin said this week there was “a certain light at the end of the tunnel” and that “there are options for ensuring Ukraine’s security in the event the conflict ends”.

The prospect of a direct meeting involving Putin and Zelensky has become increasingly unlikely since it was suggested last month by President Trump.

Putin suggested this week Zelensky could come to Moscow for talks, an idea branded “unacceptable” by Kyiv. The Ukrainian leader said it was indication Russia did not really want the meeting to take place.

Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Thursday that Russia had no veto on Western troops being deployed to Ukraine: “Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It’s a sovereign country. It’s not for them to decide.”

Trump told CBS News on Wednesday that he remained committed to reaching a deal to end the war and said he continued to have a good relationship with both Putin and Zelensky.

“I think we’re going to get it all straightened out,” he said.

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