Coalition of the Willing meets to ‘finalise robust security guarantees for Ukraine,’ Macron says
Looks like that’s full house, with more leaders joining online, too.
Opening the meeting, Macron says the leaders meet to “finalise robust security guarantees for Ukraine, and all the work that has been done in recent weeks.”
And after his very brief remarks, the media are asked to leave.
The leaders are expected to speak with Trump early afternoon, and will brief the press once all is done.
Key events
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Giorgio Armani dies at 91 – Italian media
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European leaders react after first session of the Coalition of the Willing
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‘Putin cannot be trusted,’ Britain’s Starmer warns
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Up to us to design guarantees to back Ukraine, Nato’s Rutte says, as he warns against being ‘naive’ about Russia
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‘Complete consensus’ on Coalition of the Willing’s support for Ukraine, Czech Republic’s Fiala says
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Coalition of the Willing meets in Paris – in pictures
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Sweden reports ‘sharp increase’ in GPS interference affecting civil aviation
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Google services hit by outages in south-eastern Europe – reports
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Portugal declares day of mourning as funicular crash death toll rises to 17
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Coalition of the Willing meets to ‘finalise robust security guarantees for Ukraine,’ Macron says
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Not for Russia to decide if Ukraine can have foreign troops as security guarantees, Nato’s Rutte says
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Nato’s Rutte praises Trump’s impact on Nato, says Russia ‘noticed’ alliance ‘stepping up’
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Spain’s Sánchez to attend coalition meeting online after his plane breaks down
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Russia, China, Iran preparing for ‘long term confrontation,’ Nato’s Rutte warns
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Europe needs to produce more, faster to match Russia, Nato’s Rutte says
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Europe shouldn’t be naive about Russia’s ‘destabilising, confrontational’ force, Nato’s Rutte says
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Morning opening: Where there is a will, there is a way
Back to Paris, we are still waiting for Macron’s press conference after the summit.
In the meantime, there is a line from the German government spokesperson, via Reuters, confirming that the European partners briefed Trump on their work, and that they hope the US will continue to contribute significantly to efforts to support Ukraine.
I am sure he will hear more about this soon.
Giorgio Armani dies at 91 – Italian media
In other news, the Italian media are now reporting the death of the iconic Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani at 91.
The news was also reported by the Italian news agency AGI and Reuters, quoting a statement from Armani’s company.
As we wait, can we just take a moment to appreciate the absolutely stunning indoors of the Élysée Palace with the stained glass windows in colours of the French flag?
Anyway, we should hear from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, fairly shortly at the conclusion of today’s meeting, and presumably after the leaders’ call with US president Donald Trump.
We will bring you the main news lines when it happens.
In her reaction to the meeting, Latvia’s prime minister Evika Siliņa warned that “Russia does not want peace in Ukraine and will remain a threat.”
Romania’s president Nicușor Dan praised a “very good and substantive meeting,” pointedly “welcoming the participation of US representatives.”
“US involvement remains crucial in all aspects of our joint efforts to reach a ceasefire and a lasting peace in Ukraine. We need to keep pressure on Russia as it continues to show that it does not want peace,” he said.
He added that “strong security for Ukraine and further consolidating Nato’s posture on the Eastern Flank and at the Black Sea go hand in hand.”
European leaders react after first session of the Coalition of the Willing
Let’s look at some further reactions from European leaders after the first part of the Paris summit, before they call US president Donald Trump shortly.
Ireland’s prime minister Micheál Martin issued a statement saying the talks “focussed on making further progress on the security guarantees for Ukraine that will be needed to underpin any ceasefire or peace agreement.”
He said these guarantees could take “a number of forms, from an ‘assurance force’ that some countries are ready to join to further training for the Ukrainian Defence Forces.”
He also said that it could “include a role for peacekeepers in ensuring that a ceasefire or peace agreement is observed,” with Ireland “open to participating in an appropriately mandated mission of this kind.”
Croatia’s Andrej Plenković also spoke about the need to continue offering “comprehensive assistance to Ukraine,” and stressed the need to support Ukraine’s plans to join the EU.
Estonia’s Kristen Michal said that while “Putin hopes his games tire the democratic world, our unity and resolve have proven otherwise.”
“Security guarantees must be defined by those who seek and provide them. Russia has no say in Ukraine’s future – or the future of Europe and Nato,” he said.
Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, grounded in Madrid after his plane broke down (10:12), also called for “transatlantic unity,” saying it was “more necessary than ever,” as he urged partners to make no concessions to Russian aggression.
Lithuania’s Gitanas Nausėda stressed that “guarantees must provide real deterrence, not another Budapest Memorandum.”
‘Putin cannot be trusted,’ Britain’s Starmer warns
Meanwhile Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer told other leaders of the Coalition of the Willing that Putin “could not be trusted” as Russia continues to delay peace talks and carry out attacks on Ukraine.
“That was further underlined by the indiscriminate attacks in Kyiv last week, causing significant damage to the British Council and EU delegation buildings,” he added, according to a government readout.
Starmer also stressed that the coalition “had an unbreakable pledge to Ukraine, with president Trump’s backing,” and told leader it was clear they “now needed to go even further to apply pressure on Putin to secure a cessation of hostilities.”
He also welcomed announcements from other coalition members that they would supply long range missiles to Ukraine “to further bolster the country’s supplies.”
Starmer wasn’t in Paris, but dialled in online, it was confirmed.
Up to us to design guarantees to back Ukraine, Nato’s Rutte says, as he warns against being ‘naive’ about Russia
Nato’s Rutte is speaking now and he opens by heaping praise on the Czech Republic as a reliable member of the alliance.
He then talks about Nato’s defence spending ramp up in recent months to deal with “the threats we face, including from Russia, which we all know is not only a challenge today, but for the long term.”
On Ukraine, he says that “we’re all pushing for an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine and a just and lasting peace.”
Commenting on the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing he just took part in, he largely repeat what he said earlier this morning (10:18) as he says:
“This started as president Trump breaking the deadlock with Putin [by] engaging with him, and therefore [it is] now for us to design the security guarantees as Europeans and Canada with the US to make sure that when [these] talks start, the Ukrainian president knows that he has the full backing of the US, of Canada, the Europeans, all of us in Nato, but also countries outside Nato.”
He says the “primary” security guarantee will have to be the Ukrainian army, but “on top of that, also these security guarantees.”
He also strongly repeats his point that Europe should “not be naive” about Russia.
“The facts are there. Russia is investing 40% of its state budget on defence. And of course, you sometimes here and there have a nice parade, but that’s not why they are investing all that money.
They are investing it because they want to be successful in Ukraine, and we have to prevent them from being successful. But beyond Ukraine, it will not stop.
We have seen recent announcements and comments by senior military and also intelligence leaders in Europe saying that Russia might be ready by 2027, by 2029 some are saying by 2030 2031 to really, if they would choose so try to attack Nato territory.
We have to make sure that our deterrence is such that they will never try, knowing that our reaction will be devastating.
That is yes, money, because we need more men and women in uniform, but also yes, production because production capacity, also here the Czech Republic, is very important because of your overall … history and still very much presence when it comes to defence industrial production … .
To everybody watching this, please, men and women, citizens of the Czech Republic and all over Europe, Canada and the US: let’s not be naive about Russia.
We know what Putin tries to do, and the evidence is there in Ukraine as we speak, and it is there, that’s threat [is] for the long term, I’m afraid.”
‘Complete consensus’ on Coalition of the Willing’s support for Ukraine, Czech Republic’s Fiala says
Czech prime minister Petr Fiala and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte are making the best use of the break in the Coalition of the Willing’s meeting by hosting a joint press conference, marking the alliance’s boss visit to the wonderful city of Prague.
Fiala says it was “an important online meeting,” showing “a complete consensus” on further support for Ukraine.
He says the leaders agreed “that we need to continue our intensive help to Ukraine in order to be able to defend itself and continue the pressure on Russia, and to create conditions for a fair and enduring peace.”
“In order to achieve peace, and there is also a strong consensus on that there must be robust security guarantees, which would deter Russia from further aggression,” he says.
He also adds that under his tenure, the Czech Republic has turned from “a free rider” into a reliable Nato ally, ramping up defence spending and ammunition production.
(Context: We are just a month away from the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, which is why he’s so keenly talking about the achievements of his government.)
Coalition of the Willing meets in Paris – in pictures
The Paris meeting of the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine is still on-going, with a number of leaders joining online.
Let me take you inside the room:
Curiously, AP quoted a source saying that US special envoy Steve Witkoff joined the leaders for a bit to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, and you can see him in the pictures, sitting in the corner near the host, Emmanuel Macron.
Reuters also reported that he was expected to have a one-on-one meeting with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy during the day.
You would imagine that’s part of the preparation for their phone call with US president Donald Trump later today.
There is a lunch break around now, with Zelenskyy the first to leave minutes ago, but there’s more planned for the afternoon.
I will keep an eye on this for you.
Sweden reports ‘sharp increase’ in GPS interference affecting civil aviation
Sweden has reported a “sharp increase” in GPS interference over the Baltic Sea in 2025, saying it receives “almost daily” reports of incidents affecting aircraft in the area.
The new data, published by the Swedish Transport Agency Transportstyrelsen, showed 733 incidents reported this year (until 28 August), compared to 495 in 2024 and just 55 in 2023.
It added that the sources of interference has been traced to the territory of Russia.
Andreas Holmgren, the head of the unit looking at the issue, said the disruptions have increased in numbers and geographically, taking place over a larger area.
He added that the problem posed “a safety risk” for civil aviation, even if pilots had alternative systems to rely on.
The authority intends to escalate the issue at the international level, with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, or ICAO, it said.
The report comes just days after the plane carrying the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen was reportedly affected by GPS interference on approach to the airport in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, causing delays to her travel.
Google services hit by outages in south-eastern Europe – reports
Users in parts of mostly south-eastern Europe have reported problems with accessing Google services this morning.
Outage services showed self-reported issues in Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey, among others.
Turkey’s cybersecurity watchdog has requested a technical report from Google in relation to the outage, deputy transport and infrastructure minister Ömer Fatih Sayan said on X.
Turkish daily Hürriyet said the outage showed the country’s reliance on Google services, and served as “a serious warning to countries about digital sovereignty and data security.”
Greek daily Kathimerini also reported on the outage, while Romanian broadcaster Antena 3 said it caused “widespread disruption” to users.
Bulgarian Dnevnik said the outage affecting Bulgarian users lasted for “about an hour.”
In Germany, outage tracking website Allestoerungen, a division of US-based Ookla, reported an uptick in Google disruptions from around 9am, Reuters reported.
Google’s public Workspace Status Dashboard showed the issues as largely resolved within the last half hour.
A Google Cloud spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that “multiple Google services experienced network connectivity issues in various European and Asian regions.”
“We are investigating it further,” they added.
Portugal declares day of mourning as funicular crash death toll rises to 17
Sam Jones in Madrid, Helen Livingstone, and agencies
Portugal has declared a day of national mourning after at least 17 people were killed and 21 others injured when one of the city’s famous funicular cars derailed and crashed into a building on Wednesday evening.
Footage showed the wreckage of the yellow-and-white car lying on its side in the narrow street it traverses. Its sides and top were crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends. Parts of the vehicle, made mostly of metal, were crushed.
An emergency services spokesperson said some foreign nationals were among the dead but did not identify the victims or disclose their nationalities.
The injured people, three of whom were seriously hurt, were being treated in several hospitals in the Lisbon region. Two of the most badly injured victims died in hospital overnight, raising the initial death toll from 15 to 17.
Teams of pathologists from the National Forensics Institute worked through the night on autopsies, officials said.
Public prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which happened just after 6pm on Wednesday as the evening rush hour began.
Known as Elevador da Glória, the vehicle goes up and down a steep hill in central Lisbon in tandem with one going the opposite way.
Coalition of the Willing meets to ‘finalise robust security guarantees for Ukraine,’ Macron says
Looks like that’s full house, with more leaders joining online, too.
Opening the meeting, Macron says the leaders meet to “finalise robust security guarantees for Ukraine, and all the work that has been done in recent weeks.”
And after his very brief remarks, the media are asked to leave.
The leaders are expected to speak with Trump early afternoon, and will brief the press once all is done.
Poland’s Donald Tusk is at the Élysée now too.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just arrived too – in a much bigger car than other leaders (presumably for security reasons?).
And the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen.
It’s funny to watch Macron stand at the top of the stairs trying to figure out who’s coming next, and then reacting to them getting out of the car. If you look carefully, you can make out who are his favourites, I think!
