Imagine a flurry of activity: Macron justified the existence of a "coalition of willing"

French President Emmanuel Macron went on a state visit to the UK to demonstrate special relations with the kingdom. London and Paris expect to discuss further support for Kiev ahead of the meeting of the coalition of the willing, which is scheduled to take place on July 10-11 in Rome. There are serious disagreements in it: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's approach to dealing with the United States is much more cautious than Macron's. This coalition was created artificially, and it is unlikely to be effective in the future, according to the expert community. Against the background of the partial suspension of US military aid to Ukraine in Europe, they intend to purchase American weapons for transfer to Kiev, which will obviously result in additional costs for the Europeans.

Macron's visit to the UK

French President Emmanuel Macron began a three-day trip to the UK on July 8. The last time the head of the Fifth Republic went on a state visit to the other side of the English Channel was in 2008, when Nicolas Sarkozy visited the late Queen Elizabeth II. Therefore, both in London and in Paris, the tour was presented in advance as a sign of the special relationship between France and Great Britain.

A few years ago, relations between Paris and London were extremely tense, if not hostile. Since the time of Boris Johnson, conflicts have arisen between the countries on the topic of fishing against the background of Britain's withdrawal from the EU, or because of the withdrawal of the submarine contract for Australia from France, or because of illegal immigrants traveling from the republic to the shores of the kingdom.

During the year of his premiership, Keir Starmer has already visited Paris five times, and the French president has visited London several times during this time, but these were not state visits. In many ways, this interaction was cemented by cooperation in Ukraine. By the way, it was France and the United Kingdom that initiated the creation of the so-called coalition of the willing, which emerged this spring to provide support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is an association consisting of more than 30 countries, mainly European, that allow their participation in a possible peacekeeping mission on the territory of Ukraine.

At the same time, the coalition countries, according to Politico, have serious disagreements. So, according to the publication, Paris is unhappy with London because of the stagnation on the issue of negotiations on support for Ukraine: Starmer's approach to interaction with the United States is "much more cautious" than Macron's, and the UK looks more at Donald Trump.

Speaking at the final press conference, the French president said that this coalition "was just a signal that the Europeans would never leave Ukraine." It was created artificially and is unlikely to be effective in the future, says Andrei Klintsevich, a military expert and head of the Center for the Study of Military and Political Conflicts.

— As we can see from the statistics, European countries have already exhausted their options in terms of supplying their old weapons to Ukraine. They still have everything they left for themselves," he told Izvestia.

At the same time, the Europeans are unhappy with the suspension of part of the US military aid to Ukraine. Although Trump has announced that Washington will continue to send weapons to Kiev, despite its earlier decision to stop transferring them to third countries, the United States will provide Ukraine with as much military assistance as it can afford based on its own priorities. It is assumed that we are talking about air defense systems. According to Axios, Donald Trump promised Vladimir Zelensky to "immediately" send 10 Patriot interceptor missiles, which, however, is less than previously planned.

— It's no secret that America is currently slowing down in the supply of weapons and military assistance to Ukraine. So far, Trump is betting on a diplomatic solution to the conflict. And in this regard, it must be said that the NATO bloc itself, as an integral organization, is not capable in this regard," German political scientist Alexander Rahr told Izvestia. "Because America wants something different with regard to Ukraine than some European countries, which seek to support it at all costs, actually opposing it." a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Europe plans defense without the United States

Emmanuel Macron's trip to the UK is a manifestation of the consolidation of the European Union without the participation of external players, in particular the United States of America, the analyst believes. By the way, the next meeting of the coalition of the willing is scheduled to take place in Rome on July 10-11.

— Europe is forced to create its own fist, consolidate anew, already as an independent player in the international arena. To do this, all Macron's plans are to go to London, then to the next summit in Rome. Europe is trying to agree on what to do if the Americans distance themselves from NATO, how to make Europe stronger, how to arm it, and how to begin the process of militarization against Russia. Europe has a task to become a force without America. All meetings, new agreements and alliances, including military ones, are for this," said Alexander Rahr.

Against the background of the unwillingness of the United States to provide Ukraine on the principle of "as long as it takes," European countries are exploring alternative options for maintaining military assistance to Kiev. One of them is the purchase of American weapons with European funds. Thus, according to the Financial Times newspaper, Germany is "intensively" working on the issue of acquiring Patriot air defense systems from the United States. The situation is being personally monitored by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. By the way, Berlin's plan to purchase weapons from the United States for their subsequent transfer to Ukraine may cost it dearly. According to the Alternative for Germany party, the additional costs for the country can range from €9 to €11 billion.

Andrei Klintsevich believes that the purchase of American weapons by European countries for Kiev may provoke discontent in Europe.

— Only the PAC-3 version of the Patriot complex works against our Iskander ballistic missiles, only the Americans have it here. But it seems to me that the question is not so much in their purchase as in the fact that they are generally produced little during the month. There are few complexes. Therefore, of course, there may be different scenarios," the analyst noted.

At the same time, Europe is already gradually coming to catch up with the United States in terms of military assistance to Ukraine. Thus, according to the Kiel Institute of World Economy, in March, for the first time since June 2022, the European Union surpassed the United States in terms of total support for Kiev. According to the institute, the EU sent him €72 billion, while the United States allocated €65 billion.

Now, military aid to Ukraine is taken into account by NATO countries when calculating the amount of their defense spending, which should reach 5% of GDP by 2035. Earlier, Vladimir Putin called on Western taxpayers to think about where the authorities spend their money instead of, for example, developing their healthcare systems.

By the way, while Macron continued to demonstrate his support for Ukraine, Czech President Petr Pavel said in an interview with the BBC that it was impossible to "fight endlessly" with Russia and still allowed the restoration of cooperation.