US President Donald Trump told a meeting of world leaders Thursday that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil and put economic pressure on China to try to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine, a White House official told CNN, as the administration seemed to put the onus on its allies to get more involved in stopping the conflict.
Trump made the comments in a Thursday call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders in a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of Ukrainian allies trying to end the war and provide security for Ukraine from future attacks.
Following the call, French President Emmanuel Macron said that 26 countries have promised to contribute to a potential peacekeeping force if a ceasefire deal is finalized – though US support for security guarantees is seen as central to lending the Europeans’ actions credibility.
Macron acknowledged as much on Thursday, saying that alongside strengthening Ukraine’s armed forces and deploying European troops to Ukraine, the third component of Ukraine’s security guarantees ought to be an “American safety net.”
“In the coming days we will finalize the American support for these security guarantees,” the French president said.
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