Britain and France to Deploy Forces to Ukraine should a Peace Agreement is Reached

The UK and France have inked a declaration of intent concerning the stationing of military forces in the nation should a peace deal be made with Moscow, the Prime Minister of Britain, Keir Starmer, has announced.

Subsequent to discussions with Kyiv's partners in Paris, he noted that the UK and France would "establish defense centers throughout Ukraine and erect protected structures for arms and military equipment" to prevent any subsequent incursion.

The allied nations also suggested that the United States would play the primary role in overseeing a truce.

Russia has consistently cautioned that any non-Ukrainian military in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has not yet issued a statement on this latest development.

Context and Continuing Conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the start of last year, and Russian forces at this time occupies roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This constitutes a crucial element of our vow to support Ukraine for the duration," stated Starmer.

Heads of state and senior officials from the "Allied Coalition" were involved in Tuesday's talks.

Addressing reporters at a combined announcement, he noted: "It paves the way for the juridical structure under which British, French, and partner forces could work on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine's airspace and waters, and regenerating Ukraine's armed forces for the future."

The PM went on to say that London would take part in any Washington-directed verification of a prospective cessation of hostilities.

Security Guarantees and Diplomatic Positions

Top American diplomat Steve Witkoff remarked that "durable defense assurances and substantial prosperity commitments are critical to a enduring ceasefire" in Ukraine – alluding to a key requirement made by the Ukrainian government.

He indicated the partner nations had "largely finished" their work on finalizing such pledges "in order that the Ukrainian people know that when this hostilities ends, it ends permanently."

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's advisor, also was involved in the discussions.

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

He added that "robust" security guarantees for the Ukrainian government had been agreed in the case of a possible truce.

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "huge step forward" had been made in the talks, but qualified that he would only view efforts to be "enough" if they resulted in the cessation of the fighting.

Earlier, the Ukrainian leader suggested a peace agreement was "largely prepared". Settling the last 10% would "shape the fate of the peace, the destiny of Ukraine and Europe".

Outstanding Matters

• Sovereign soil and defense assurances have been at the forefront of key disagreements for the parties involved.
• Moscow has repeatedly warned that Ukraine's forces must retreat from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will seize it, dismissing any middle ground over how to finish the war.
• The Ukrainian President has thus far rejected giving up any territory, but has floated the idea that Ukraine could pull back its forces to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia reciprocates.

Russia currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the bordering Luhansk. The two regions form the industrial region of the Donbas.

The original US-led 28-point proposal that was extensively reported to the media last year was perceived by Kyiv and its partners in Europe as being strongly biased in Moscow's direction.

This triggered a period of high-level diplomacy – with all sides trying to revise the document.

Recently, Ukraine submitted the US an revised 20-point plan – as well as separate documents outlining potential security guarantees and provisions for Ukraine's rebuilding, Zelensky added.