The United Kingdom and France Plan to Send Troops to Ukraine in the event that a Peace Deal is Finalized

The London and Paris have inked a declaration of intent concerning the positioning of troops in Ukraine in the event a peace agreement be made with Russia, the Prime Minister of Britain, Starmer, has announced.

Following talks with Ukraine's allies in Paris, he indicated that the two nations would "set up military hubs across Ukraine and construct fortified facilities for military hardware and defense matériel" to discourage any potential invasion.

The coalition members also suggested that the United States would take the lead in monitoring a truce.

The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that any external forces in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has not yet issued a statement on this recent development.

The Situation and Ongoing Hostilities

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and Moscow currently occupies roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This represents an essential component of our vow to support Ukraine for the foreseeable future," stated the UK Prime Minister.

National leaders and senior officials from the "Allied Coalition" took part in the recent discussions.

Speaking at a shared media briefing, he added: "It creates the pathway for the operational parameters under which allied and coalition forces could function on Ukraine's territory, defending Ukraine's skies and seas, and rebuilding Ukraine's military for the time to come."

The UK prime minister added that Britain would participate in any American-headed confirmation of a prospective truce.

Protection Pledges and Diplomatic Positions

Top American diplomat Steve Witkoff stated that "long-term defense assurances and strong prosperity commitments are essential to a enduring ceasefire" in Ukraine – alluding to a major requirement made by Ukraine.

The negotiator said the partner nations had "mostly completed" their work on agreeing such guarantees "in order that the people of Ukraine know that when this hostilities ends, it ends for good."

Donald Trump's son-in-law, former American President Donald Trump's representative, also was involved in the talks.

At the same time, France's leader Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine's partners had made "major headway" at the negotiations.

He added that "comprehensive" security guarantees for Kyiv had been settled upon in the case of a potential ceasefire.

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "major advance" had been made in the talks, but qualified that he would only deem efforts to be "sufficient" if they led to the conclusion of the conflict.

Earlier, Zelensky suggested a settlement was "90% ready". Settling the remaining 10% would "shape the future of the peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Unresolved Issues

• Territory and security guarantees have been at the center of unresolved issues for negotiators.
• Moscow has often said that Kyiv's military must retreat from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will take control, rejecting any concession over how to finish the war.
• Kyiv has thus far rejected giving up any territory, but has floated the idea that Ukraine could withdraw its forces to an designated point – but only if Russia does the same.

Moscow presently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region and some 99% of the adjacent Luhansk. The two regions form the heartland of the Donbas.

The original US-led multi-point peace plan that was extensively reported to the media last year was viewed by Ukraine and its European allies as being disproportionately favorable in Moscow's favor.

This triggered weeks of focused discussions – with the involved parties trying to adjust the draft.

Recently, The Ukrainian government sent the US an revised 20-point plan – as well as additional documents detailing potential security guarantees and plans for Ukraine's recovery, Zelensky added.