Last updated: 7:57 PM

The Italian Prime Minister was connected remotely. The French President:"The US is very clear about security guarantees, which will be finalized in the coming days." Russia attacks a mine-clearing mission.

• The US will gradually eliminate security assistance programs for European militaries along its border with Russia, pushing the continent to increase its defense funding, the Financial Times reports, which estimates the budget at more than $1 billion.
  Last week, Pentagon officials informed European diplomats that the United States will no longer fund training and equipment programs for armed forces in Eastern European countries that would be on the front lines of a potential conflict with Russia, according to sources familiar with the matter. According to the US Government Accountability Office, the FT writes, the program allocated $1.6 billion to Europe between 2018 and 2022, about 29% of the global spending of $333 billion. Among the main beneficiaries are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• With US President Donald Trump,"we talked about how to push the situation towards real peace. We discussed several options, and the most important is pressure, using strong measures, particularly economic ones, to force an end to the war." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this on X, reporting on the phone call with the tycoon along with European leaders. They also discussed"maximum protection of Ukrainian skies" from Russian attacks with Trump: "Ukraine has proposed a format for the protection of our skies that the United States will have to evaluate," he stressed.
• The United Kingdom highlighted the collective commitment of the partners of the so-called Coalition of the Willing to provide "long-range missiles" to Ukraine among the conclusions of today's Paris summit, which Keir Starmer co-chaired remotely with Emmanuel Macron. Downing Street also emphasized that Starmer, in his speech, called for"intensification of pressure" on Vladimir Putin to push Russia towards peace. Regarding Britain's military contribution to post-war guarantees in Kiev, London has long said it is ready to deploy a contingent on the ground along with others, provided there is US support."Individual countries guarantee their presence or participation to ensure Ukraine's security. Poland, as we have repeatedly emphasized, does not plan to send troops to Ukraine, even after the end of the war. We are responsible for logistics," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters after the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris. The prime minister described the talks with US President Donald Trump as"challenging," adding, however, that"both Europe and the United States want to maintain and strengthen Western unity against threats from the East," which "still requires intense work." Tusk then said that "at the moment, there is no talk of a meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin."
• "It was a crucial meeting, because we all know that the future and security of the entire continent are at stake. The leaders endorsed the work of their chiefs of defense staff and defense ministers. We will be relentless in our efforts to keep Ukraine strong, Europe safe, and achieve peace." This was stated by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the end of the meeting in Paris.
• "The American partners told us that Putin invited me to Moscow. I think if you don't want a meeting, you should invite me to Moscow. I think Russia has started talking about a meeting, which is already positive. But so far, we don't see their willingness to end the war." This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, quoted by Interfax Ukraine. According to him, meetings of this level should lead to some results,"preferably the end of the war."
• "Italy, Poland, and Germany are among the 26 countries" that will participate in security guarantees,"with contributions ranging from the regeneration of the Ukrainian army to the deployment of ground, sea, and air troops, or the provision of bases." French President Emmanuel Macron said this at the end of the meeting of the Willing in Paris."Each has its own way of contributing, some by sending troops to the territory, others by making their NATO bases available. I don't want to go into details here, but all three countries are important contributors to these security guarantees," he added. "The United States has been very clear: they want to be part of the security guarantees effort. I won't give details of the reassurance forces so as not to expose our plans. This is our line of defense and that of Ukraine. We won't show our plans to Mr. Putin's Russia. Our Joint Chiefs of Staff have them and are ready. This is the case for all 26 contributing countries." French President Macron assured that the Americans "have been very clear" about their participation in the security guarantees. After the video conference with Donald Trump, Macron assured that"American support" for these "security guarantees" for Kiev will be finalized "in the coming days."
• Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni
• after the meeting of the
Volenterosi
• participated "in a subsequent telephone connection with President Trump in which the outcomes of the morning's meeting were shared and the sense of unity was reaffirmed in reiterating the common goal of a just and lasting peace for
Ukraine
• . This can only be achieved with an approach that combines continued support for Ukraine, the pursuit of a cessation of hostilities, maintaining collective pressure on Russia, including through the instrument of sanctions, and solid and credible security guarantees, to be defined in a spirit of sharing between the two sides of the Atlantic." This was reported in a note from Palazzo Chigi.