Acting President Ilie Bolojan said in Paris on Wednesday evening that President Emmanuel Macron had confirmed that France’s military presence in Romania would be strengthened in the coming period.
Bolojan also said that at an informal meeting with several leaders of European countries, it was agreed that the EU would prepare financial and arms aid for Ukraine.
The conclusion of the meeting was that a just and equitable peace is needed, which cannot be achieved without the participation of Ukraine and the EU in the negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron organized two discussions on Ukraine with European leaders, on Monday and Wednesday, and today’s meeting also included the interim President of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, who was received at the Elysee Palace.
According to Larisa Brown, defense editor of The Times, Western officials have revealed the plan to ensure Ukraine’s security, and the proposal includes the deployment of American aircraft in Romania and Poland with the mission of intervening if necessary.
“Western officials have revealed their plan for a “reassurance” force for Ukraine. It includes: * Less than 30,000 European-led troops deployed to key cities, ports and critical national infrastructure sites across Ukraine. They will not be in the east. * Technical monitoring of the border, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, intelligence gathering, satellites in space and drones to provide “complete picture of what’s going on”. * Protecting the airspace and enabling commercial flights again and the ability to “monitor and shoot those attacks down”. * backstop would be US aircraft based in Romania and Poland ready to respond if necessary plus larger land forces on the eastern border ready to move,” reads Larisa Brown’s X post.
Russia currently occupies about a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory and has ruled out accepting a settlement to the conflict that would involve withdrawing from areas captured on the battlefield. Along with Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, Moscow declared the Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions annexed in September 2022, but data compiled by Reuters from open sources shows that Ukrainian troops still control around 26,000 square kilometers. Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants “real security guarantees” and will not accept an agreement imposed without its consent. February 24 will mark three years since the Russian invasion. Moscow’s representatives held a first round of talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, without the participation of Europeans or Ukrainians.
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