08:46 – Ursula von der Leyen wishes “to rearm Europe”
“We must urgently rearm Europe,” said the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday after the London summit on Ukraine. The latter should quickly present “a global plan on how to rearm Europe” at the EU Special Summit on Defense next Thursday “. It finally plans to increase defense expenses” over an extended period of time “.
08:38 – “The front line continues to get closer to us”, warns Jean -Noël Barrot
This Monday, March 3, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot was the guest of France Inter. “Never the risk of a war on the European continent, in the European Union, has been so high because for almost 15 years, the threat continues to get closer to us, the front line continues to get closer to us,” he warns. The Americans have chosen a dialogue with Russia to take it to the negotiating table. We Europeans have always said that it was necessary to take it by pressure, “he continues.
Also, about Macron and Starmer’s proposal on the truce of a month in Ukraine, according to him, it is a “prerequisite”. “It will allow to attest to the good faith of Vladimir Putin. (…) It is a way of verifying that Russia is voluntary to put an end to this war,” he abounds.
08:34 – Zelensky and Europe refine their response to Trump
“We will define our common positions – what we want to get, and what is not negotiable. These positions will be presented to our American partners,” said Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram this Sunday. His goal? Reach “a solid and lasting peace, and (to one) good agreement concerning the end of the war,” he said.
European leaders accompanied by the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived at a consensus at their meeting this Sunday in London: trying to keep the voice of the United States has their side and not to divide more than this is already the case. “I am ready for all constructive formats in relations with the United States. I think we have everything you need,” judges Zelensky. On the other hand, “understand certain red lines” Ukrainian, such as a security guarantee, hitherto refused by Trump.
08:29 – A proposal for a truce “in the air, on the seas and the energy infrastructure”
Emmanuel Macron told the Figaro this Sunday that France and Great Britain were going to offer a truce of a month in Ukraine “in the air, on the seas and the energy infrastructure”. The advantage of such a truce is that “we know how to measure it” while the front is immense, “the equivalent of the Paris-Budapest line”, concedes the French president. At first, the way to peace would therefore not concern him on the ground. “In the event of a ceasefire, it would be very difficult to verify that the front is respected,” explains the head of state in everyday columns.
“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks. The question is how we use this time to try to get an accessible truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once the peace has been signed, a deployment,” questions Emmanuel Macron. “We want peace. We don’t want it at any price, without guarantees,” he said.