The United Kingdom and France to Deploy Troops to Ukraine if a Peace Agreement is Reached

The London and Paris have inked a memorandum of understanding concerning the positioning of troops in the nation in the event a ceasefire be concluded with Moscow, the Prime Minister of Britain, Starmer, has stated.

After talks with Ukraine's allies in the French capital, he noted that the two nations would "establish operational bases throughout Ukraine and construct protected installations for military hardware and defense matériel" to deter any potential invasion.

The allied nations also put forward that the US would take the lead in overseeing a ceasefire.

Moscow has repeatedly cautioned that any non-Ukrainian military in Ukraine would be considered a "acceptable aim", but has so far not commented on this latest development.

Context and Continuing War

Moscow's leader Vladimir Putin began a comprehensive attack of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow presently occupies about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This is a vital part of our commitment to be alongside Ukraine for the foreseeable future," commented the UK Prime Minister.

Top officials and senior officials from the "Allied Coalition" were involved in the recent discussions.

He stated at a combined announcement, the Prime Minister 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 rebuilding Ukraine's armed forces for the time to come."

The UK prime minister went on to say that London would participate in any US-led verification of a prospective cessation of hostilities.

Protection Pledges and Negotiation Stances

Lead Washington representative Steve Witkoff said that "long-term security guarantees and strong reconstruction vows are critical to a permanent resolution" in Ukraine – mentioning a major demand made by the Ukrainian government.

The negotiator noted the allies had "largely finished" their work on establishing such pledges "so that the Ukrainian people know that when this hostilities ends, it ends permanently."

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

Separately, President Macron Emmanuel Macron stated that Ukraine's partners had made "considerable progress" at the meeting.

He noted that "robust" security guarantees for Kyiv had been reached in the instance of a possible truce.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "major development" had been made in the negotiations, but cautioned that he would only deem efforts to be "sufficient" if they culminated in the end of the fighting.

Last week, the Ukrainian leader said a peace deal was "90% ready". Agreeing on the last 10% would "shape the fate of peace, the future of Ukraine and Europe".

Unresolved Issues

• Sovereign soil and security guarantees have been at the center of key disagreements for the parties involved.
• Putin has often said that Ukrainian troops must pull back from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will occupy it, rejecting any concession over how to end the war.
• Kyiv has so far ruled out ceding any land, but has suggested that Ukraine could pull back its forces to an agreed point – but only if Russia follows suit.

Russian forces presently occupies about 75% of the Donetsk oblast and around 99% of the adjacent Luhansk region. The pair of oblasts form the area of the Donbas.

The original US-led 28-point framework that was extensively reported to the media last year was viewed by Kyiv and its EU supporters as being strongly biased in Russia's favor.

This triggered a period of intensive negotiations – with all sides trying to revise the document.

Last month, Ukraine presented the US an new proposal – as well as additional documents describing prospective security guarantees and plans for Ukraine's recovery, Zelensky added.