Britain and France Plan to Send Troops to Ukraine in the event that a Ceasefire Accord is Reached

The UK and France have signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the deployment of military forces in the nation in the event a peace agreement be struck with Russia, the Prime Minister of Britain, Keir Starmer, has announced.

Subsequent to negotiations with Ukraine's allies in the French capital, he indicated that the allies would "establish operational bases in various parts of Ukraine and construct fortified facilities for arms and military equipment" to discourage any potential attack.

The allied nations also suggested that the United States would take the lead in verifying a halt in hostilities.

The Kremlin has on multiple occasions stated that any external forces in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has not yet issued a statement on this latest declaration.

Background and Continuing Hostilities

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russian forces at this time occupies roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This constitutes a crucial element of our vow to stand with Ukraine for the long-term," commented the British leader.

Heads of state and top officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" participated in Tuesday's talks.

He stated at a shared media briefing, he noted: "It paves the way for the juridical structure under which British, French, and partner forces could work on Ukrainian soil, protecting Ukraine's air and maritime domains, and regenerating Ukraine's military for the time to come."

The UK prime minister went on to say that Britain would be involved in any American-headed monitoring of a possible truce.

Protection Pledges and Diplomatic Positions

Senior US negotiator Steve Witkoff remarked that "durable safety pledges and strong prosperity commitments are essential to a permanent resolution" in Ukraine – referring to a central condition made by the Ukrainian government.

The negotiator indicated the partner nations had "substantially agreed on" their work on finalizing such pledges "in order that the people of Ukraine know that when this hostilities ends, it ends forever."

The former US envoy, former American President Donald Trump's representative, also took part in the negotiations.

At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Ukraine's supporters had made "significant progress" at the negotiations.

He added that "robust" defense assurances for the Ukrainian government had been reached in the event of a potential truce.

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "significant step forward" had been made in Paris, but cautioned that he would only consider efforts to be "adequate" if they resulted in the end of the war.

Earlier, the Ukrainian leader indicated a peace agreement was "largely prepared". Finalizing the last 10% would "decide the future of the agreement, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Remaining Challenges

• Land and defense assurances have been at the center of ongoing disputes for diplomats.
• Putin has often said that Ukraine's forces must withdraw from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will occupy it, dismissing any middle ground over how to conclude the war.
• Kyiv has to date excluded ceding any land, but has floated the idea that Ukraine could move its forces to an designated point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Moscow presently holds about 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the adjacent Luhansk. The two regions form the industrial region of the Donbas.

The earlier US-led multi-point peace plan that was extensively reported to the media last year was seen by Ukraine and its European allies as being strongly biased in Moscow's direction.

This sparked weeks of focused discussions – with the involved parties trying to amend the draft.

Recently, The Ukrainian government submitted the US an updated framework – as well as additional documents outlining potential defense assurances and provisions for Ukraine's recovery, he said.