PARIS: A summit of European leaders in Paris agreed Thursday that sanctions against Russia should not be lifted, and instead ramped up, until Moscow halted its war against Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “There was complete clarity that now is not the time for the lifting of sanctions, quite the contrary — what we discussed is how we can increase sanctions to support the US initiative to bring Russia to the table from further pressure,” Starmer said alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky added that “Everybody understood and understands that today Russia does not want any kind of peace.”

In a separate briefing, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that lifting sanctions against Russia would be a “grave mistake” and “makes no sense” so long as there is no peace. “It makes no sense to end the sanctions as long as peace has not actually been achieved, and unfortunately we are still a long way from that,” Scholz said. Zelensky said there should be “no lifting of any kind of sanctions until Russia stops this war” and instead “more pressure on it, more packages of sanctions”.

Starmer said he was “determined” to see “peace through strength” in Ukraine, telling Zelensky that Ukraine has “our full support for as long as it takes”. He accused Russia of “trying to delay” in the search for peace in Ukraine. As Europe looks to bolster Ukraine after any ceasefire, Starmer said: “We discussed the plans for reassuring the peace — the coalition of the willing — and the military and operational plans whether they are on air, land or sea.” “We will work on security guarantees in coming days and weeks,” Zelensky added. Macron says European countries to deploy to Ukraine after peace deal

Europe to send forces

After the summit, President Emmanuel Macron said that France and Britain were leading efforts to send a “reassurance force” to Ukraine after any end to the fighting with Russia, even if the idea was not approved by all European allies. “These reassurance forces are a British-French proposition that is desired by Ukraine,” Macron said. “It does not have unanimity today but we do not need unanimity to do this,” he added, saying a Franco-British delegation would head to Ukraine in the coming days to discuss this and the future shape of the Ukrainian army. “There will be a reassurance force with several European countries who will deploy” to Ukraine, he said.

Macron emphasized that members of such a “reassurance” force were not destined to be peacekeepers, deployed on the front line or any kind of substitute for the Ukrainian army. Also, he emphasized, not all of Ukraine’s European allies would be represented in the force, with some states not “having the capacity” and some reluctant due to the “political context”.

The Franco-British delegation would begin talks over where such a force could be deployed. It would have the “character of deterrence against any potential Russian aggression”, he said. Macron added that the summit agreed that he and Starmer would together “co-pilot” Europe’s “coalition of action for stable and durable peace”. The UK-France delegation would also discuss the shape of “tomorrow’s Ukraine army”, Macron said, emphasizing the importance of a “strong Ukrainian army, well-equipped for the day after”. — AFP