UK and France to Deploy Troops to Ukraine if a Ceasefire Accord is Agreed

The UK and France have inked a memorandum of understanding concerning the deployment of armed personnel in Ukraine should a peace agreement be concluded with Moscow, the British leader, Starmer, has stated.

After talks with Kyiv's partners in Paris, he noted that the UK and France would "establish military hubs across Ukraine and construct protected facilities for arms and military equipment" to deter any subsequent incursion.

The partner countries also proposed that the US would take the lead in verifying a halt in hostilities.

The Kremlin has on multiple occasions warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered a "legitimate target", but has as yet not issued a statement on this latest declaration.

The Situation and Ongoing War

Moscow's leader Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russian forces presently occupies approximately 20% of Ukraine's sovereign soil.

"This is a vital part of our commitment to support Ukraine for the long-term," commented the UK Prime Minister.

National leaders and senior officials from the "Allied Coalition" were involved in the recent discussions.

He stated at a combined announcement, he further said: "It establishes the framework for the juridical structure under which allied and coalition forces could work on Ukraine's territory, securing Ukraine's airspace and waters, and regenerating Ukraine's armed forces for the future."

The UK prime minister also stated that Britain would take part in any American-headed confirmation of a prospective cessation of hostilities.

Defense Assurances and Diplomatic Positions

Top US negotiator Steve Witkoff stated that "durable security guarantees and strong reconstruction vows are critical to a permanent resolution" in Ukraine – alluding to a key requirement made by the Ukrainian government.

Witkoff said the partner nations had "largely finished" their work on finalizing such assurances "to ensure the Ukrainian people know that when this conflict ends, it ends permanently."

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

At the same time, President Macron Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine's allies had made "major headway" at the meeting.

He said that "robust" defense assurances for the Ukrainian government had been reached in the instance of a potential ceasefire.

President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "huge development" had been made in the negotiations, but qualified that he would only deem efforts to be "enough" if they culminated in the cessation of the war.

Earlier, Zelensky indicated a peace deal was "mostly finalized". Agreeing on the outstanding 10% would "shape the fate of the agreement, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Unresolved Issues

• Sovereign soil and security guarantees have been at the forefront of key disagreements for diplomats.
• Moscow has repeatedly warned that Ukrainian troops must pull back from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take control, rejecting any compromise over how to finish the war.
• Zelensky has thus far excluded surrendering any land, but has proposed that Ukraine could pull back its forces to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Russian forces currently occupies about 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the bordering Luhansk. The two regions form the heartland of Donbas.

The initial US-led multi-point peace plan that was extensively reported to the media last year was viewed by Kyiv and its EU supporters as being strongly biased in Moscow's favor.

This led to weeks of focused negotiations – with all sides trying to revise the proposal.

Recently, Ukraine sent the US an updated proposal – as well as distinct documents outlining prospective security guarantees and provisions for Ukraine's reconstruction, the President stated.