Twelve European defence ministers will meet via videoconference on Monday to discuss a coordinated response to the US-Russian diplomatic offensive on Ukraine and security, according to the French Ministry of Defence.
The meeting, initiated by Estonia and France, will take place in the afternoon. The defence ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom will also participate.
French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu will travel to Tallinn to join his Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, and participate in celebrations for Estonia’s national holiday.
Around 350 French soldiers are stationed in Estonia as part of a multinational NATO battalion.
The meeting occurs on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It follows an announcement by US President Donald Trump that the United States will begin bilateral talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, initially excluding Europe and Ukraine.
Last week, several EU and NATO leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, to discuss the issue.
They agreed on the need for a “sustainable peace agreement based on security guarantees” for Kyiv and expressed a willingness to increase defence spending. However, several EU member states have expressed reluctance to send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.
