Coalition of the willing must press Trump to avoid Russia's 'outrageous conditions', analyst says

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00:00Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been meeting with President Emmanuel Macron

00:04here in Paris this Wednesday.

00:06His visit comes a day ahead of a peace and security meeting for Ukraine on Thursday,

00:11which will gather leaders from the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries

00:16considering deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the case of a ceasefire.

00:20Earlier this evening, Zelensky also sat down with journalists to answer questions.

00:25He thanked the U.S. for the aid they'd given but added that U.S. officials often echo Russian

00:29narratives.

00:30He also said Moscow is not ready to end the war.

00:33Take a listen.

00:37I can't be ungrateful to the United States for everything they've done for us, and I

00:41believe that they are very often, unfortunately, under the influence of Russian narratives.

00:49We can't agree to these narratives, but we are fighting for ourselves and we will continue

00:55to fight these narratives.

00:57We have no other choice.

00:59We are fighting for our independence and for our existence.

01:02Well, to break that down for us, let's bring in Orysia Lutsevich, the deputy director of

01:08the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House.

01:10It's a pleasure to have you with us on the program today.

01:13First of all, what are your key takeaways from what we heard there from Zelensky earlier

01:17this evening?

01:19Any war is also a war for the narrative, and Zelensky, as a former actor, perfectly understands

01:25that.

01:26He has been successful in marshalling the global support for Ukraine.

01:30Let's remember the two nations were providing all kinds of military assistance to Ukraine

01:36in the group called Rammstein, and tomorrow there will be 37 of those meeting in the coalition

01:41of the willing.

01:42And he's trying to push back against Trump's interpretation of war, where he believes by

01:49actually accusing Ukraine of not wanting peace or calling Zelensky a dictator and not

01:55putting any pressure on Russia will not lead to Trump's outcome of a ceasefire.

02:01So it's important that Ukraine has a center stage.

02:04And actually, we all revert back to the understanding of this as unprovoked illegal aggression.

02:10Now, when it comes to this so-called coalition of the willing, is the idea of putting boots

02:16on the ground in Ukraine what's still dividing Europe?

02:21I think the big question that is for Europe to answer is what kind of, first of all, ceasefire,

02:28if there will be a ceasefire set up.

02:31It is very difficult to plan a concrete military operation without understanding the situation

02:37on the ground.

02:39We are seeing first indications of what it may look like if it is a ceasefire in the

02:45Black Sea, and you need a special force to monitor that ceasefire and ensure security

02:50of trade corridors.

02:52That may require a coalition of the countries that are the Black Sea countries, and they

02:55have powerful navies.

02:57If it's a ceasefire on the energy infrastructure, it also means that Ukraine needs more air

03:05defense, meanwhile, to shore up its nuclear power stations.

03:09So Europe has to seriously start planning for all these eventualities, because there

03:13are many pathways that this war may still take.

03:16Now, Zelensky says it's too early to discuss roles of future European forces in Ukraine.

03:22Is this even a remote possibility, in your opinion?

03:27I think, as I've described, there are various options of how Europe, this coalition of the

03:32willing, can reinforce Ukraine's defenses.

03:36What many military experts agree is that actually air defense, the joint air shield or sky shield

03:43that would protect Ukrainian nuclear, for example, civilian infrastructure, and Ukraine

03:48has more than five nuclear power stations to protect, would create a safety zone for

03:54business, for people to return, and for economy to work.

03:58But also, I think it's important that we keep the focus on the Black Sea, because it's an

04:02important trade route, and we want to ensure that Russia doesn't remilitarize Crimea and

04:08threaten further the ports of Odessa, Poltava, and other areas.

04:13So there's a variety of options, including at some stage possible deployment on the ground.

04:19Now, President Emmanuel Macron has said today that Russia must accept a 30-day ceasefire

04:25offered by Ukraine without preconditions.

04:28But what happens if Moscow simply does not accept this proposal?

04:33What happens is that the war will continue the way it's been now lasting for three and

04:37a half years.

04:38And I think what is important is that coalition of the willing tries to pass the message to

04:43White House and to Trump personally that U.S. should also not agree on some of these outrageous

04:49conditions that Kremlin is putting on the table, such as, for example, demilitarization

04:55of Ukraine or premature elections right after the ceasefire that will destabilize Ukraine,

05:03that will allow Putin to play this internal game of politics in Ukraine.

05:09And such rushed election would jeopardize, actually, democratic unity inside Ukraine.

05:14Marusia Lutsevich from Chatham House, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with

05:18us today on the program.

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