Britain and France Will Dispatch Military Personnel to the Country should a Ceasefire Accord is Finalized

The British and French governments have signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the stationing of armed personnel in Ukraine in the event a peace deal be made with Russia, the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced.

After talks with Ukraine's allies in the French capital, he noted that the allies would "create operational bases across Ukraine and erect secure facilities for military hardware and defense matériel" to discourage any subsequent invasion.

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

The Kremlin has consistently warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered a "valid objective", but has as yet not issued a statement on this latest development.

Background and Continuing War

Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and Moscow currently controls approximately 20% of Ukraine's sovereign soil.

"This is a vital part of our vow to stand with Ukraine for the duration," commented Starmer.

Top officials and top officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" were involved in Tuesday's talks.

Speaking at a shared media briefing, the Prime Minister added: "It creates the pathway for the juridical structure under which allied and coalition forces could operate on the ground in Ukraine, defending Ukraine's skies and seas, and rebuilding Ukraine's military for the years ahead."

The PM went on to say that the UK would participate in any Washington-directed verification of a potential ceasefire.

Security Guarantees and Diplomatic Positions

Lead American diplomat Steve Witkoff stated that "lasting security guarantees and substantial prosperity commitments are critical to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – referring to a key demand made by the Ukrainian government.

Witkoff indicated the coalition had "substantially agreed on" their work on finalizing such guarantees "to ensure the citizens of Ukraine know that when this hostilities ends, it ends forever."

The former US envoy, ex-President Donald Trump's representative, also participated in the discussions.

At the same time, President Macron Emmanuel Macron declared that Ukraine's supporters had made "considerable progress" at the meeting.

He said that "comprehensive" defense assurances for Ukraine had been settled upon in the instance of a possible truce.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "huge advance" had been made in Paris, but qualified that he would only deem efforts to be "sufficient" if they led to the end of the war.

Earlier, he said a settlement was "mostly finalized". Settling the last 10% would "decide the future of the agreement, the future of Ukraine and Europe".

Outstanding Matters

• Land and defense assurances have been at the forefront of key disagreements for the parties involved.
• Moscow has often said that Ukrainian troops must retreat from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take control, rejecting any concession over how to end 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 agreed point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Russia presently occupies approximately 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the bordering Luhansk. The two regions form the heartland of the Donbas.

The original US-led 28-point peace plan that was extensively reported to the media last year was seen by Ukraine and its partners in Europe as being disproportionately favorable in Moscow's direction.

This led to weeks of focused diplomacy – with Ukraine, the US and European leaders trying to revise the draft.

Recently, The Ukrainian government presented the US an updated framework – as well as distinct documents describing prospective security guarantees and arrangements for Ukraine's recovery, Zelensky added.