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

The London and Paris have formalized a memorandum of understanding concerning the stationing of armed personnel in Ukraine should a peace deal be struck with Russia, the British leader, Starmer, has declared.

Following talks with Kyiv's partners in Paris, he indicated that the allies would "create military hubs throughout Ukraine and construct protected structures for arms and defense matériel" to prevent any future incursion.

The coalition members also proposed that the United States would play the primary role in monitoring a truce.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has not yet issued a statement on this new development.

The Situation and Ongoing Hostilities

Moscow's leader Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russian forces currently holds about 20% of the country's land.

"This represents an essential component of our pledge to support Ukraine for the long-term," stated the British leader.

National leaders and top officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" were involved in the recent discussions.

Addressing reporters at a shared media briefing, he added: "It paves the way for the legal framework under which allied and coalition forces could function on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine's skies and seas, and regenerating Ukraine's defense capabilities for the time to come."

The British leader also stated that the UK would be involved in any Washington-directed confirmation of a possible truce.

Security Guarantees and Negotiation Stances

Top Washington representative Steve Witkoff stated that "durable defense assurances and robust economic promises are essential to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – mentioning a major demand made by Ukraine.

The negotiator indicated the allies had "substantially agreed on" their work on agreeing such guarantees "to ensure the people of Ukraine know that when this war ends, it ends permanently."

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's advisor, also took part in the discussions.

Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that Ukraine's supporters had made "considerable progress" at the talks.

He noted that "strong" safety pledges for the Ukrainian government had been agreed in the case of a potential truce.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "significant step forward" had been made in the talks, but qualified that he would only view efforts to be "enough" if they led to the conclusion of the conflict.

Recently, Zelensky said a peace agreement was "mostly finalized". Finalizing the outstanding 10% would "determine the future of the peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Unresolved Issues

• Territory and security guarantees have been at the heart of key disagreements for the parties involved.
• The Russian President has consistently stated that Ukraine's forces must withdraw from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take control, refusing any middle ground over how to finish the war.
• Zelensky has thus far ruled out ceding any territory, but has floated the idea that Ukraine could pull back its troops to an agreed point – but only if Russia does the same.

Russia 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 28-point framework that was widely leaked to the media last year was viewed by Ukraine and its EU supporters as being strongly biased in Russia's direction.

This led to a period of focused diplomacy – with all sides trying to amend the proposal.

The previous month, The Ukrainian government submitted the US an new 20-point plan – as well as separate documents describing possible security guarantees and plans for Ukraine's rebuilding, Zelensky stated.