European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were meeting in Paris on Thursday to agree security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a peace accord with Russia to end the three-and-a-half-year war sparked by Moscow's 2022 invasion.

The guarantees by the so-called coalition of the willing, which remain under wraps but are expected to include ramped-up training for the Ukrainian army and deployment of troops by some European states, have angered Russia.

They form part of a push led by French President Emmanuel Macron to show that Europe can act independently of Washington after President Donald Trump upended US foreign policy after just months in office.

The summit, co-chaired by Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, aims to firm up plans on security guarantees for Ukraine if or when there is a ceasefire, and get a clearer picture of US involvement.

Russia has heaped scorn on such assurances, and President Vladimir Putin himself has said Moscow is willing to "resolve all our tasks militarily" in the absence of an agreement. He has........

© International Business Times