Britain and France Plan to Send Troops to Ukraine should a Ceasefire Accord is Finalized

The London and Paris have formalized a statement of purpose concerning the positioning of armed personnel in the nation in the event a peace agreement be concluded with Moscow, the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced.

Following talks with allied nations in the French capital, he indicated that the UK and France would "establish operational bases across Ukraine and erect secure installations for military hardware and defense matériel" to prevent any subsequent attack.

The allied nations also proposed that the US would play the primary role in verifying a ceasefire.

Moscow has consistently stated that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has not yet issued a statement on this latest announcement.

The Situation and Continuing War

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a major offensive of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow at this time holds about 20% of the country's land.

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

National leaders and top officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" took part in Tuesday's talks.

He stated at a combined announcement, he further said: "It creates the pathway for the operational parameters under which British, French, and partner forces could work on Ukraine's territory, protecting Ukraine's air and maritime domains, and regenerating Ukraine's armed forces for the years ahead."

The British leader added that London would be involved in any US-led verification of a potential cessation of hostilities.

Security Guarantees and Diplomatic Positions

Top US negotiator Steve Witkoff said that "long-term safety pledges and strong reconstruction vows are vital to a permanent resolution" in Ukraine – mentioning a major requirement made by the Ukrainian government.

Witkoff said the coalition had "mostly completed" their work on agreeing such guarantees "so that the Ukrainian people know that when this hostilities ends, it ends for good."

Jared Kushner, former American President Donald Trump's representative, also took part in the discussions.

Separately, President Macron Emmanuel Macron stated that Ukraine's allies had made "considerable progress" at the negotiations.

He noted that "comprehensive" safety pledges for the Ukrainian government had been reached in the event of a prospective truce.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "huge advance" had been made in Paris, but added that he would only view efforts to be "enough" if they resulted in the end of the conflict.

Recently, the Ukrainian leader said a peace agreement was "mostly finalized". Agreeing on the remaining 10% would "decide the fate of the peace, the destiny of Ukraine and Europe".

Remaining Challenges

• Territory and defense assurances have been at the forefront of key disagreements for negotiators.
• Putin has often said that Ukraine's forces must pull back from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, dismissing any concession over how to end the war.
• The Ukrainian President has to date rejected ceding any land, but has floated the idea that Ukraine could pull back its troops to an agreed point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Moscow presently controls approximately 75% of the Donetsk region and some 99% of the bordering Luhansk. The pair of oblasts form the industrial region of the Donbas.

The initial US-led comprehensive proposal that was widely leaked to the media last year was viewed by Ukraine and its partners in Europe as being strongly biased in Moscow's favor.

This triggered weeks of high-level discussions – with Ukraine, the US and European leaders trying to revise the draft.

The previous month, Kyiv submitted the US an revised proposal – as well as additional documents outlining prospective security guarantees and plans for Ukraine's recovery, the President stated.