UK and France Will Dispatch Forces to Ukraine should a Peace Deal is Agreed

The London and Paris have inked a memorandum of understanding concerning the deployment of military forces in Ukraine should a peace deal be made with Russia, the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has announced.

Subsequent to talks with Kyiv's partners in the French capital, he said that the two nations would "set up operational bases across Ukraine and construct protected installations for arms and military equipment" to discourage any potential incursion.

The coalition members also suggested that the America would assume leadership in monitoring a halt in hostilities.

Moscow has on multiple occasions warned that any non-Ukrainian military in Ukraine would be considered a "acceptable aim", but has as yet not issued a statement on this new announcement.

The Situation and Continuing Conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a major offensive of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russian forces presently controls approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This constitutes a crucial element of our commitment to support Ukraine for the foreseeable future," stated Starmer.

Top officials and senior officials from the "Partner Group" took part in Tuesday's talks.

He stated at a combined announcement, the Prime Minister added: "It paves the way for the operational parameters under which allied and coalition forces could function on the ground in Ukraine, securing Ukraine's air and maritime domains, and rebuilding Ukraine's armed forces for the future."

The British leader went on to say that the UK would participate in any US-led monitoring of a prospective truce.

Protection Pledges and Diplomatic Positions

Senior Washington representative Steve Witkoff stated that "durable defense assurances and robust economic promises are essential to a enduring ceasefire" in Ukraine – mentioning a key condition made by the Ukrainian government.

He indicated the partner nations had "largely finished" their work on finalizing such assurances "so that the citizens of Ukraine know that when this conflict ends, it ends permanently."

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

Separately, President Macron Emmanuel Macron declared that Ukraine's allies had made "significant headway" at the meeting.

He noted that "robust" defense assurances for Kyiv had been agreed in the event of a potential truce.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that a "major advance" had been made in Paris, but cautioned that he would only deem efforts to be "enough" if they culminated in the conclusion of the war.

Last week, he said a peace deal was "largely prepared". Agreeing on the outstanding 10% would "determine the outcome of the agreement, the future of Ukraine and Europe".

Unresolved Issues

• Territory and defense assurances have been at the forefront of key disagreements for negotiators.
• Putin has often said that Ukrainian troops must pull back from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will occupy it, refusing any middle ground over how to conclude the war.
• Kyiv has to date rejected giving up any territory, but has proposed that Ukraine could pull back its troops to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia reciprocates.

Moscow presently holds approximately 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the adjacent Luhansk. The two regions form the area of the Donbas.

The original US-led 28-point framework that was circulated to the media last year was seen by Kyiv and its European allies as being heavily skewed in Moscow's favor.

This sparked a period of high-level diplomacy – with the involved parties trying to revise the proposal.

The previous month, Kyiv sent the US an new proposal – as well as separate documents detailing possible defense assurances and plans for Ukraine's reconstruction, the President added.