Britain and France Will Dispatch Troops to the Country should a Peace Agreement is Agreed

The UK and France have formalized a memorandum of understanding concerning the stationing of military forces in Ukraine should a peace deal be made with Russia, the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has stated.

Following negotiations with Kyiv's partners in the French capital, he said that the UK and France would "create operational bases across Ukraine and construct protected installations for arms and defense matériel" to discourage any potential incursion.

The coalition members also put forward that the America would play the primary role in verifying a halt in hostilities.

The Kremlin has consistently cautioned that any non-Ukrainian military in Ukraine would be considered a "legitimate target", but has as yet not issued a statement on this new announcement.

Background and Continuing Conflict

Moscow's leader Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the start of last year, and Moscow presently holds roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This represents an essential component of our pledge to be alongside Ukraine for the duration," commented the British leader.

Top officials and senior officials from the "Allied Coalition" participated in Tuesday's talks.

He stated at a joint press conference, he further said: "It establishes the framework for the juridical structure under which allied and coalition forces could operate on Ukrainian soil, protecting Ukraine's skies and seas, and restoring Ukraine's military for the time to come."

The PM added that London would participate in any Washington-directed monitoring of a potential cessation of hostilities.

Security Guarantees and Diplomatic Positions

Lead US negotiator Steve Witkoff said that "durable security guarantees and strong prosperity commitments are essential to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – mentioning a key demand made by Ukraine.

The negotiator indicated the allies had "substantially agreed on" their work on finalizing such assurances "so that the citizens of Ukraine know that when this war ends, it ends permanently."

The former US envoy, former American President Donald Trump's representative, also participated in the talks.

At the same time, President Macron Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine's allies had made "considerable headway" at the talks.

He added that "robust" security guarantees for the Ukrainian government had been agreed in the event of a potential truce.

President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "significant advance" had been made in the negotiations, but added that he would only deem efforts to be "enough" if they led to the cessation of the conflict.

Last week, Zelensky indicated a peace deal was "largely prepared". Settling the outstanding 10% would "determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Outstanding Matters

• Territory and security guarantees have been at the forefront of ongoing disputes for negotiators.
• Putin has often said that Kyiv's military must pull back from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will seize it, rejecting any concession over how to conclude the war.
• Kyiv has so far rejected ceding any land, but has proposed that Ukraine could move its forces to an designated point – but only if Russia does the same.

Moscow presently holds approximately 75% of the Donetsk region and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The pair of oblasts form the heartland of the Donbas.

The original US-led multi-point peace plan that was extensively reported to the media last year was perceived by Kyiv and its European allies as being heavily skewed in Moscow's direction.

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

The previous month, The Ukrainian government presented the US an new 20-point plan – as well as separate documents detailing prospective security guarantees and arrangements for Ukraine's recovery, the President said.