UK and France to Deploy Troops to Ukraine should a Peace Agreement is Finalized

The UK and France have inked a statement of purpose concerning the deployment of military forces in Ukraine should a ceasefire be struck with Moscow, the British leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has declared.

Following discussions with Ukraine's allies in Paris, he noted that the UK and France would "create operational bases in various parts of Ukraine and erect fortified structures for arms and military equipment" to prevent any subsequent incursion.

The partner countries also suggested that the US would play the primary role in overseeing a truce.

Russia has on multiple occasions warned that any external forces in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has not yet issued a statement on this latest announcement.

The Situation and Ongoing Hostilities

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin began a major offensive of Ukraine in the start of last year, and Moscow currently holds about 20% of the country's land.

"This represents an essential component of our commitment to be alongside Ukraine for the foreseeable future," commented the UK Prime Minister.

Top officials and senior officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" participated in the Paris negotiations.

Speaking at a joint press conference, he further said: "It paves the way for the operational parameters under which allied and coalition forces could function on Ukraine's territory, protecting Ukraine's airspace and waters, and rebuilding Ukraine's military for the time to come."

The UK prime minister added that London would take part in any Washington-directed verification of a potential truce.

Protection Pledges and Negotiation Stances

Top Washington representative Steve Witkoff stated that "long-term defense assurances and strong prosperity commitments are critical to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – referring to a central requirement made by Kyiv.

The negotiator said the allies had "mostly completed" their work on establishing such guarantees "to ensure the citizens of Ukraine know that when this hostilities ends, it ends forever."

Donald Trump's son-in-law, ex-President Donald Trump's advisor, also took part in the talks.

At the same time, France's leader Emmanuel Macron declared that Ukraine's allies had made "major progress" at the talks.

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

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "significant advance" had been made in the negotiations, but qualified that he would only consider efforts to be "enough" if they led to the conclusion of the fighting.

Last week, Zelensky suggested a peace deal was "mostly finalized". Agreeing on the outstanding 10% would "determine the fate of the agreement, the future of Ukraine and Europe".

Remaining Challenges

• Land and security guarantees have been at the center of key disagreements for diplomats.
• Putin has repeatedly warned that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will occupy it, dismissing any concession over how to conclude the war.
• Kyiv has to date rejected ceding any land, but has proposed that Ukraine could withdraw its forces to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Russian forces presently controls about 75% of the Donetsk oblast and some 99% of the adjacent Luhansk region. The pair of oblasts form the heartland of the Donbas.

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

This led to a period of focused diplomacy – with all sides trying to adjust the draft.

Recently, The Ukrainian government sent the US an updated 20-point plan – as well as additional documents outlining potential defense assurances and provisions for Ukraine's recovery, he added.