Emmanuel Macron has said. Speaking after a summit of 35 countries dubbed the "Coalition of the Willing", the French president accused Russia of trying to delay the peace process to buy more time to seize more Ukrainian territory. Hopes of a Ukraine-Russia summit to end the fighting have receded since Russia's Vladimir Putin met Donald Trump in Alaska last month. Trump spoke to the Western allies over the phone on Thursday, and Macron said US support would be finalized in the coming days. However, the US president was also critical of EU countries that continued to buy Russian oil, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters.

The 27-member European Union has set a target of ending all gas and oil imports by the end of 2027. Hungary and Slovakia, whose leaders are seen as close to Russia, are among the EU's biggest importers of Russian oil. Few countries have openly promised to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a deal, and the US has already ruled such a move out. European diplomats have suggested that committing troops at this point would probably help Putin's narrative against the West. Moscow has made clear that no Western forces should be deployed to Ukraine and has insisted that it should be one of the countries acting as "guarantors" - an idea rejected by Kyiv and its allies. The French president said he had "no doubt" of US willingness to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump recently indicated that US backing could come "probably" in the form of air support. Details so far are vague, but air support could include help with air defence or intelligence. Russia continues to send troops into Ukraine despite the latest attempts to set ceasefire talks, Macron complained. In the latest violence, two people clearing mines were killed in a Russian attack in northern Ukraine. (BBC)