German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful said it was necessary to increase pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine.
“Putin must prove to the world that he is finally ready to end the war against Ukraine. Yesterday I spoke to my colleagues. We are unanimous in our opinion: Ukraine needs security guarantees. Pressure on Russia must be increased,” he wrote in social network X on 26 August following a conversation with colleagues from the United States, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and Ukraine, as well as the head of EU diplomacy.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, commenting on the mentioned conversation, said that during it he “reiterated Ukraine’s position that security guarantees should be concrete, legally binding and effective. They should be multidimensional, including military, diplomatic, legal and other levels. We all share the conviction that the Ukrainian army is the fundamental level of any such guarantees, so its maximum strengthening is our top priority.”
The U.S. State Department said that during the conversation, the two sides “agreed to continue to cooperate in diplomatic efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine by reaching a lasting settlement.”
Security guarantees for Kiev are a key issue in efforts to end the war. Their discussion became more active after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump and European counterparts in Washington.
US President Donald Trump said that Washington would contribute to security guarantees, but the US was no longer spending money on Ukraine.
According to media reports, as part of a so-called coalition of the willing, Britain has offered to deploy Typhoon fighter jets in western Ukraine and a brigade of 3,000-5,000 troops to train the Ukrainian army. France, Canada and Australia could also send troops to western Ukraine. The Czech Republic could be part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, its president Petr Pavel said. Lithuania also said that it was ready to provide peacekeeping troops for a possible mission in Ukraine.