Zelenskyy arrives in Paris for 'coalition of the willing' summit

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday arrived in Paris to attend a leaders-level "coalition of the willing" summit on Ukraine peace.

Zelenskyy's arrival was confirmed by the presidential press secretary, Serhii Nykyforov, to Ukrainian media outlets, including state news agency Ukrinform.

According to an agenda published by the Elysee Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron will host a working meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at 12.15 pm (1115GMT).

Macron will then hold a working lunch with Zelenskyy and a visiting US delegation at 12.45 pm (1145GMT).

The two meetings will take place ahead of a leaders-level summit of the grouping of 35 countries, led by the UK and France, that have supported Ukraine and are willing to deploy troops in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

The summit, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, is expected to address the latest state of talks aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, developments in draft peace plans, and the role to be played by the coalition in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.

Citing a White House official, US news website Axios said the American delegation heading to Paris to attend the summit will include special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Over the weekend, national security advisers from 15 countries, as well as representatives from NATO and the EU, held a meeting in Kyiv.

Earlier Tuesday, Chief of the French Defense Staff Fabien Mandon wrote on US social media company X that he took part in a meeting of chiefs of general staff in Paris, and discussed "security guarantees for Ukraine and the modalities of their implementation."