Macron: European military should help Ukraine in ground operations

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the need for the participation of the European military in future peacekeeping missions in Ukraine and assistance with ground operations. He said this at a briefing in Washington after talks with American leader Donald Trump, Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders, the BBC reports.

"We will need a strong Ukrainian army, and we will have to help Ukraine with ground operations. We will need peacekeeping operations that Ukraine's allies are ready to provide," Macron said.

According to the French leader, this will be part of efforts to ensure stability after the end of hostilities. He also said that the US president is ready to consider the introduction of secondary sanctions and tariffs against Moscow if Russia does not show willingness to negotiate.

Macron added that European leaders conveyed to the American side the need to accelerate the achievement of peace agreements.

On Monday, August 18, Trump received Zelensky at the White House, their conversation lasted about an hour. After that, the negotiations were continued in an expanded format with the participation of representatives of European countries. The key topics were the parameters of future security guarantees for Ukraine and further steps to organize a direct dialogue between Moscow and Kiev.

Trump also announced a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced the beginning of preparations for a meeting between the Russian leader and Zelensky. According to the US president, after the bilateral talks, it is planned to hold trilateral talks with his participation.

Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed the telephone conversation between the leaders of Russia and the United States, which lasted about 40 minutes. According to him, Trump informed Putin about the results of meetings with Zelensky and European representatives. The parties supported direct contacts between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine and discussed "the possibility of raising the level of representatives participating in these negotiations," RBC reminds.