PARIS (Reuters) -France will finalise with other European Union countries a solution for providing financial support to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
Macron, who was speaking after a virtual meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, said Ukraine needed a peace that was “serious” and “respectful of international law”.
The Coalition will launch a working group led by France and Britain with close involvement from Turkey and, for the first time, the United States to hammer out security guarantees for Ukraine once a peace deal has been reached, he said.
“Over the next few days, we will finalise each party’s contributions and finalise these security guarantees. This is essential for the Ukrainians, it is essential for negotiating a credible peace and for maintaining pressure on Russia,” he said.
Ukraine signalled support on Tuesday for the framework of a peace deal with Russia but stressed that sensitive issues needed to be fixed at a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Regarding frozen Russian assets, Macron said: “We will finalise this in the coming days, in coordination with all the European countries most concerned and, of course, with the European Union and the European Commission, a solution that will secure funding, give Ukraine visibility and maintain this pressure.”
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Inti Landauro; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Gareth Jones)
