At a summit in Paris of the self-styled “coalition of the willing”, leaders of nine European states and Ukraine agreed to hold multinational military exercises in countries bordering Ukraine in the coming months. French President Emmanuel Macron said the manoeuvres would test deployment plans for a post-ceasefire “reassurance force” and demonstrate that the coalition is “ready, determined and credible”. The force, described as purely defensive, would be stationed in Ukraine only after a ceasefire with Russia is in place. Separately, Macron announced that Ukraine will acquire 16 Rafale multirole fighter jets, with the first aircraft expected to operate in Ukrainian airspace by 2028–2029, and will receive a first batch of new-generation SAMP/T air-defence batteries, with missile deliveries beginning in the coming weeks.

According to the French presidency, the agreements also grant Ukraine licences to produce SCALP cruise missiles, Aster 30 surface-to-air interceptors and AASM precision-guided munitions on its own territory. A new missile-defence coalition, bringing together Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, was launched with the aim of building an integrated European architecture against ballistic threats. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a domestically developed anti-ballistic system, Freyja, which he said could see first use before the end of 2026. The British government confirmed it would join the European Union’s €90 billion military-assistance loan programme for Kyiv, enabling UK defence firms to bid for related contracts.

Viewed from Moscow, the steps announced in Paris reinforce a long-standing objection. The Russian foreign ministry and its permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna have repeatedly stated that any deployment of European troops to Ukraine is unacceptable, characterising such forces as biased and insisting that discussions are premature without the consent of both parties to the conflict. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, attending the summit, appealed directly to President Vladimir Putin to enter negotiations, saying Ukraine was ready to end the war and that it was “solely up to Putin to seize this chance”. A joint declaration by the participating states stressed that the measures were taken “not against any people, but to protect our own”.

The concept of a European reassurance force has been under discussion since late 2024, with France and the United Kingdom initially planning a contingent of up to 15,000 troops focused on equipment maintenance, training of Ukrainian forces and defence infrastructure construction, rather than frontline combat. Earlier informal exercises by French special forces in January 2025 rehearsed a possible intervention scenario. Several European capitals, including Berlin, Rome, Warsaw and Madrid, had previously opposed sending troops, citing escalation risks. The decision to proceed with formal multinational drills in neighbouring states marks an operational step toward a force that remains conditional on a ceasefire yet to be negotiated. The next concrete phase will be the commencement of those exercises, while the Rafale deliveries and licensed production programmes are scheduled to unfold over the coming years.