James Townsend, Senior Advisor at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Transatlantic Security Initiative, said the Paris meeting of the G7 shows Europe intends to stand behind Ukraine for the long term. He spoke with Annette Young in a segment on how US midterms are reshaping Ukraine diplomacy, with his comments coming alongside trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi.

A test of Western cohesion

The G7 gathering, in Townsend's view, was framed as more than a routine meeting. He pointed to three questions it had to answer:

• •whether the West stays cohesive in its approach to Ukraine
• •whether promised military and financial assistance to Kyiv remains credible
• •whether Washington is ready to back a common position

In his assessment, Moscow should not mistake the parallel diplomatic negotiations for an erosion of Western resolve.

'Europe is not going anywhere'

Townsend argued that European backing for Ukraine is built to last, and that the Paris summit sends a message to Moscow about that durability. "Europe is not going anywhere," he said.

Rubio and the final communiqué

The outgoing document from the summit will, for Townsend, show where the US administration stands. He called the G7 final communiqué "a test as far as what Marco Rubio is going to agree to put his name to." The communiqué remains the next step in showing whether Washington endorses the common position on Ukraine.