Paris, Warsaw and Poland discuss security guarantees for Kiev
Germany, France and Poland are discussing long-term security guarantees for Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz met French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda in Paris on Monday evening. Before the joint deliberations, Duda appealed: “Ukraine is waiting for a clear signal regarding a clear prospect of membership in NATO.” This is the expectation of the Ukrainian leadership and the soldiers who are defending the country attacked by Russia. He hopes that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius will bring the “light at the end of the tunnel” that Ukraine is longing for.
Scholz (SPD) said that the main efforts are currently aimed at supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia. “We will continue to do this for as long as it is necessary, we are prepared for that.” Nevertheless, the intensive debate on security guarantees makes sense, said the Chancellor. “We will continue to do this very intensively and it will be finished when there is a joint result of the discussion. But one thing is clear: we need something like this, and we need it in a very concrete form.”
Macron was also more reserved than Duda. They want to talk about “NATO support for Ukraine, to give it all the perspectives it is entitled to.” He hopes that the upcoming NATO summit will make it possible to show a way and a clear vision for the country to develop the future of collective security.
At the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on July 11 and 12, Ukraine wants to get concrete prospects of being admitted to the defense alliance. However, important allies are slowing down. For the presumably long transition period, there are discussions about upgrading the existing NATO-Ukraine Commission to a new NATO-Ukraine Council. Such a joint advisory forum would be an important step towards being able to discuss key security issues with Ukraine on an equal footing.