AKIPRESS.COM - European leaders held an emergency summit in Paris to discuss what to do in light of the intention of the US President Donald Trump's administration to hold talks with Moscow without the participation of Europe, BBC reports.

There were no specific decisions announced following the meeting, but the EU and NATO announced the need to invest more in defense, as well as to provide Kyiv with reliable security guarantees.

The negotiations were attended by the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, as well as the heads of NATO and the European Union.

"Ready and full of desire. That is my opinion of today's meeting in Paris. Europe is ready and wants to move forward. To lead the provision of security guarantees for Ukraine. Ready to invest much more in our security. The details have yet to be determined, but the commitments are clear," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wrote on social network X.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who organized the meeting in Paris, spoke about the same thing after the summit. According to him, Europeans should "better, more and together" invest in defense now and in the future.

"To do this, Europeans want to accelerate the implementation of their own program to ensure sovereignty, security and competitiveness. The work will continue on the basis of the European Commission's proposals - both on supporting Ukraine and on developing and investing in our defense," Macron said.

He also said that after the talks in Paris, he spoke with the Presidents of the United States and Ukraine - Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

"We strive for a lasting peace in Ukraine. For this, Russia must stop its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and reliable security guarantees for Ukrainians. Otherwise, there is a risk that this ceasefire will end in the same way as the Minsk agreements," the French leader added.

British Prime Minister Kir Starmer said after the Paris summit that he would travel to the United States next week to discuss "key elements of a long-term peace" with US President Donald Trump.

According to Starmer, in the coming days he will also talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and then European leaders plan to hold another meeting.

He stressed that any peace agreement should be guaranteed by the United States. "Security guarantees from the United States are the only effective way to deter Russia from further attacking Ukraine," the British Prime Minister said.

Starmer also reiterated that he would consider the possibility of deploying British troops in Ukraine in the event of a lasting peace agreement.

As the Financial Times reported earlier, during the meeting in Paris, some European leaders (primarily Germany, Poland and Spain) announced their unwillingness to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.

Citing three officials who participated in the preparation of the meeting, the FT reported that France proposed discussing the creation of "support forces" that would be deployed behind the line of contact, and not on it.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that "no one is currently considering the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine." Warsaw is also not ready to send troops to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz remained cautious about the deployment of troops in Ukraine, saying that debates on this issue are premature, the FT reported.

Scholz, who was the first of the European leaders to speak to reporters after the talks in the Elysee Palace, once again stressed the need to continue supporting Ukraine.

"We welcome talks about a peace agreement, but it is obvious to us that this cannot be a dictate," Scholz said.

According to him, Germany will continue to invest in defense, and the European Union should become more flexible in budgetary matters if its members plan to spend more than 2% of GDP on defense.