- Scale. More than 25 heads of state gathered at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris on July 13, with Moldova and North Macedonia joining a bloc that now counts 37 member states — the most since the coalition’s formation.
- Agenda. The meeting focused on strengthening Ukrainian air defence, accelerating Patriot system deliveries, and establishing frameworks for security guarantees in the event of a future ceasefire.
- Signal. French officials framed the summit as proof that Western support for Ukraine persists despite growing strain on military stockpiles and budget pressures in some member states.
French President Emmanuel Macron convened the latest Coalition of the Willing summit at the Hôtel des Invalides on Monday, the eve of Bastille Day, according to Ukrinform. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended in person, as did NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and leaders from across Europe and beyond. The gathering was the largest of the coalition to date in terms of attendance.
What was on the table
The summit’s working agenda centred on three interrelated security questions: how to strengthen Ukraine’s thinning air defence network, how to sustain and expand Patriot missile system capacity, and what security guarantees Western nations could credibly offer in the event of any future peace negotiation. A separate block of discussions addressed the conditions under which coalition forces might eventually deploy to Ukraine as part of a post-settlement stabilisation mission.
Macron’s advisers told reporters that the summit’s purpose was to reinforce unity and demonstrate to Moscow that “conflict fatigue” had not eroded the West’s collective will to support Kyiv. The message was timed deliberately: the Paris meeting followed closely on the NATO Ankara summit that pledged €70 billion for Ukraine and locked in a 5% GDP defence spending target among alliance members.
A coalition shaping post-NATO security architecture
The Coalition of the Willing was established by France and the United Kingdom as a vehicle for military and security coordination with Ukraine that sits outside NATO’s formal command structure — an arrangement designed in part to include non-NATO contributors and to act more quickly than the alliance’s consensus-dependent processes allow.
The entry of Moldova and North Macedonia brings the total membership to 37 states. Some coalition members have privately flagged that their military stockpiles are becoming constrained after sustained transfers to Ukraine, and French officials acknowledged that sustaining €70 billion in annual military assistance required coordinated procurement and production ramp-ups across member defence industries.
Macron is expected to announce specific new defence initiatives and joint military exercise programmes at a press conference following the summit, signalling Europe’s intent to shoulder greater security responsibilities as the United States reduces its direct force presence in the region.