Britain and France Will Dispatch Troops to the Country if a Peace Deal is Agreed

The UK and France have inked a memorandum of understanding concerning the deployment of military forces in Ukraine should a ceasefire be concluded with Russia, the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced.

Following negotiations with Ukraine's allies in Paris, he noted that the two nations would "establish military hubs throughout Ukraine and build secure structures for military hardware and defense matériel" to discourage any subsequent incursion.

The coalition members also suggested that the United States would play the primary role in overseeing a halt in hostilities.

Moscow has consistently cautioned that any external forces in Ukraine would be considered a "acceptable aim", but has as yet not responded on this new announcement.

Background and Ongoing War

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a comprehensive attack of Ukraine in early 2022, and Moscow presently occupies about 20% of the country's land.

"This represents an essential component of our pledge to support Ukraine for the foreseeable future," remarked Starmer.

Heads of state and high-ranking officials from the "Allied Coalition" were involved in the Paris negotiations.

Speaking at a shared media briefing, Starmer further said: "It paves the way for the operational parameters under which British, French, and partner forces could operate on the ground in Ukraine, protecting Ukraine's air and maritime domains, and regenerating Ukraine's military for the future."

The British leader also stated that the UK would be involved in any Washington-directed monitoring of a possible truce.

Defense Assurances and Diplomatic Positions

Top American diplomat Steve Witkoff stated that "durable safety pledges and strong economic promises are essential to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – mentioning a central requirement made by Kyiv.

Witkoff said the allies had "largely finished" their work on agreeing such pledges "so that the people of Ukraine know that when this conflict ends, it ends forever."

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's representative, also took part in the talks.

Separately, President Macron Emmanuel Macron declared that Ukraine's supporters had made "considerable progress" at the talks.

He added that "strong" security guarantees for Ukraine had been reached in the event of a possible ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "huge step forward" had been made in the negotiations, but cautioned that he would only deem efforts to be "enough" if they resulted in the cessation of the fighting.

Last week, the Ukrainian leader said a peace deal was "largely prepared". Agreeing on the remaining 10% would "decide the outcome of the peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Remaining Challenges

• Territory and defense assurances have been at the forefront of ongoing disputes for negotiators.
• Putin has often said that Ukrainian troops must pull back from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take control, rejecting any concession over how to conclude the war.
• Kyiv has so far excluded giving up any territory, but has suggested that Ukraine could move its troops to an agreed point – but only if Russia reciprocates.

Russia presently controls approximately 75% of the Donetsk oblast and around 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk region. The areas form the area of the Donbas.

The initial US-led multi-point proposal that was extensively reported to the media last year was seen by Kyiv and its European allies as being strongly biased in Russia's direction.

This sparked a period of focused discussions – with Ukraine, the US and European leaders trying to adjust the draft.

Recently, Kyiv presented the US an new 20-point plan – as well as additional documents detailing prospective security guarantees and plans for Ukraine's recovery, he said.