France's Macron To Host Meeting To Boost Western Resolve On Ukraine

Around 20 Western leaders/senior gov't officials are expected in the French capital Paris this evening, with President Emmaneul Macron organising the summit at short notice in an effort to boost the West's resolve with regard to the war in Ukraine amid difficulties in getting continued funding for the Ukrainian war effort and a number of Russian advances along the front line.

• As well as Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez, and UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron are expected to be in attendance. Notably, though, the US and Canada will be represented by relatively low-level officials, with US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Jim O'Brien serving as Washington's representative.
• Meeting seen as unlikely to result in any new commitment to weapons or financial provision to Kyiv. The meeting is instead intended to facilitate discussions of how to improve coordination and deal with the situation on the ground, which has seen notable Russian advances in mid-to-late Feburary. The Institute for the Study of War has shown Russian advances in and around Bakhmut, Avdiivka and western Zaporizhzhia.