The United Kingdom and France to Deploy Military Personnel to Ukraine should a Peace Agreement is Reached

The UK and France have formalized a memorandum of understanding concerning the stationing of armed personnel in Ukraine should a peace deal be concluded with Moscow, the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced.

After talks with Ukraine's allies in the French capital, he said that the two nations would "establish operational bases throughout Ukraine and build secure structures for weapons and military equipment" to discourage any future invasion.

The allied nations also proposed that the United States would assume leadership in verifying a halt in hostilities.

Russia has consistently cautioned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered a "legitimate target", but has so far not responded on this latest declaration.

The Situation and Continuing Hostilities

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin began a comprehensive attack of Ukraine in early 2022, and Moscow currently occupies about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This represents an essential component of our vow to stand with Ukraine for the long-term," remarked the UK Prime Minister.

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

Speaking at a shared media briefing, Starmer noted: "It paves the way for the juridical structure under which allied and coalition forces could function on the ground in Ukraine, securing Ukraine's airspace and waters, and regenerating Ukraine's military for the future."

The UK prime minister added that London would take part in any Washington-directed monitoring of a possible ceasefire.

Security Guarantees and Diplomatic Positions

Top Washington representative Steve Witkoff remarked that "durable defense assurances and strong prosperity commitments are essential to a permanent resolution" in Ukraine – alluding to a central condition made by the Ukrainian government.

He said the allies had "substantially agreed on" their work on establishing such assurances "in order that the citizens of Ukraine know that when this conflict ends, it ends permanently."

The former US envoy, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, also was involved in the negotiations.

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

He noted that "strong" safety pledges for the Ukrainian government had been settled upon in the event of a potential ceasefire.

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

Last week, Zelensky said a peace agreement was "mostly finalized". Finalizing the last 10% would "determine the outcome of the agreement, the future of Ukraine and Europe".

Remaining Challenges

• Sovereign soil and defense assurances have been at the forefront of unresolved issues for negotiators.
• The Russian President has consistently stated that Kyiv's military must retreat from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will seize it, dismissing any compromise over how to conclude the war.
• Kyiv has to date excluded ceding any land, but has proposed that Ukraine could move its forces to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Russian forces presently holds approximately 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the adjacent Luhansk region. The areas form the industrial region of Donbas.

The original US-led comprehensive framework that was circulated to the media last year was viewed by Kyiv and its European allies as being disproportionately favorable in Russia's favor.

This triggered weeks of intensive discussions – with the involved parties trying to adjust the document.

The previous month, The Ukrainian government presented the US an revised framework – as well as additional documents outlining potential defense assurances and arrangements for Ukraine's rebuilding, the President stated.