Ukraine War | Toothless Coalition

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is certain that NATO soldiers will soon be in Ukraine. And not just a few, but thousands, the Ukrainian president said at a meeting with European Council President António Costa on Friday in the western Ukrainian border town of Uzhhorod. Zelenskyy declined to confirm the information that 10,000 soldiers would be deployed, only the fact that NATO soldiers would be arriving. He added that it was "still a bit early" to talk about it.

That's exactly what Ukraine and its supporting "Coalition of the Willing" had done in Paris the day before. They talked about how to send soldiers to maintain peace. And they did this without having a plan for ending the war after three and a half years. It certainly makes sense to have an idea of ​​how to secure peace and protect Ukraine from being attacked again by Russia. But one should also have a plan for silencing the guns—that is, taking the first step before the second, and not the other way around. But there isn't one.

Frankly, the meeting in Paris could have been avoided. Apart from a lot of hot air and a fair amount of pollutant emissions, it achieved nothing. Not even Zelensky, who had demanded tough security guarantees, could subsequently list who was actually willing to provide them. For the Ukrainian president, this is a complete failure after the extensive propaganda preparation. Attempts by the presidential office to portray the Paris summit as a major success, demonstrating broad support for Ukraine, are of no avail.

Instead of demonstrating strength and a united front, the coalition appears to be dismantling itself. The boastful statements are intended to conceal the fact that the coalition is losing its willing members. With each passing day, the list of countries declining to participate grows longer.

Greece, Poland, Italy, Japan, and Croatia have already dropped out before the peacekeeping train had even gained momentum. And by no means because they are pro-Russian. Other states, like Russia-critical Lithuania, are unwilling to take a clear position. Or they point to international agreements that must be reached first. Slovenia wants the UN's blessing or at least an agreement within the EU before making a decision.

The summit in Paris painfully demonstrated to the Europeans their inability to act and highlighted how small their role is on the diplomatic stage. The US sets the course, and Europe can only follow and strive to limit the damage. Even sending troops to Ukraine is not possible without US support. But Washington doesn't want to provoke the Kremlin any further, or ideally, they want to make peace quickly, even if Kyiv and Brussels don't get their demands met. This is not a good sign for Ukraine, because without Washington, the willing will remain powerless, and Kyiv will be left alone in the fight against the Russian invasion.