France will host a second meeting to discuss the war in Ukraine and European security, but will invite Canada and other European countries not present at the earlier emergency summit this week in Paris.
According to diplomatic sources, the new summit will take place on February 19 and will include Canada, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden, and Belgium.
The new meeting and the inclusion of additional countries was confirmed by RFE/RL after it was first reported by Reuters.
During the February 17 summit in Paris, European leaders expressed willingness to offer security guarantees to Ukraine, but they warned the level of such assurances would be based on Washington's participation in the event of a comprehensive peace agreement.
Still, many leaders underlined continued support for Kyiv.
"Ready and willing," NATO chief Mark Rutte said on X on February 17.
"That's my take from today's meeting in Paris. Europe is ready and willing to step up. To lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Ready and willing to invest a lot more in our security. The details will need to be decided but the commitment is clear."
SEE ALSO: What We Learned From High-Stakes U.S.-Russia Talks In Saudi ArabiaFrench President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the event, said that "we seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine."
"To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians."
Simultaneously, the European Union appeared poised to approve “in the near future” a further 5 billion euros ($5.24 billion) in aid for Ukraine, according to a draft document seen by RFE/RL.
The document noted that, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, the bloc has provided Ukraine with 134.5 billion euros ($141 billion) in aid, including 48.5 billion euros ($51 billion) in military assistance.
"The European Union will provide Ukraine with military support for as long as necessary and as intensively as necessary," the draft text said.
Macron briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the gathering.
Zelenskyy posted on X that he had a "long conversation" with the French president, who relayed information on his talks with fellow European leaders and others.
"We share a common vision: Security guarantees must be robust and reliable," Zelenskyy wrote.
“Any other decision without such guarantees -- such as a fragile cease- fire -- would only serve as another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations,” he said.
SEE ALSO: Europe Left Scrambling After Exclusion From Ukraine TalksThe new meeting will come one day after high-stakes U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, which did not include European governments or Kyiv.
The announcement of the Saudi talks roiled U.S.-Europe relations amid concerns that Washington could strike a deal with Moscow counter to Ukrainian and European security interests.
That meeting appears to have laid the foundation for future talks between Moscow and Washington, with both sides agreeing restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow in order to create missions to support Ukraine peace talks, bilateral relations, and cooperation more broadly.
Following the meeting in Saudi Arabia, U.S. national-security adviser Michael Waltz said any postwar peace guarantee would have to be "European-led," echoing calls by U.S. officials for European allies to increase defense spending and praising Britain and France for "talking about contributing more forcefully to Ukraine's security."
The idea of sending European peacekeepers to Ukraine following a truce moved to the forefront after remarks by British Prime Minister Kier Starmer.
Speaking to reporters in Paris on February 17, Starmer said he was "prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement."'
He cautioned that it was still too early to be specific: "We are at early stages of discussions; they haven't started yet."
However, he added that "there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again."
Starmer joined the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Commission, the European Council, and NATO in the French capital to discuss Ukraine's security on February 17.
But the meeting in Paris also exposed divisions among European nations.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said discussions over sending peacekeepers were "completely premature" and "highly inappropriate" while the war is ongoing.
SEE ALSO: Britain To 'Consider' Troops In Ukraine If Peace Agreed, But Wants 'U.S. Backstop'Scholz added that, in his view, there should be no divide between Europe and the United States on responsibility for Ukraine's security.
"NATO is based on the fact that we always act together and share the risk, thereby ensuring our security. This must not be called into question," said Scholz, who added that there could be no peace agreement without Kyiv's consent.
Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a meeting of Ukraine's military allies in Brussels that Washington would not deploy troops to Ukraine in any agreed peace deal and that NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of the solution to the conflict.
Not all European nations are eager to provide additional assistance to Ukraine, including Hungary -- which has maintained close ties with Russia even after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which will hit the three-year mark on February 24.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, was critical of the Paris summit, calling it a gathering of "frustrated European politicians."
He repeated accusations often made by Russian officials alleging that leaders at the summit were looking to prolong the war.
"So today, supporters of the war, anti-Trump, and frustrated European politicians are gathering in Paris to prevent a peace agreement with Ukraine," he was quoted as saying by Hungarian state media at a news conference in Astana.