UK and France to Deploy Military Personnel to the Country in the event that a Peace Deal is Reached

The UK and France have inked a memorandum of understanding concerning the deployment of troops in the nation if a peace agreement be struck with Moscow, the British leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced.

After discussions with Kyiv's partners in Paris, he said that the UK and France would "create military hubs throughout Ukraine and construct fortified facilities for military hardware and defense matériel" to discourage any subsequent attack.

The allied nations also put forward that the United States would play the primary role in verifying a truce.

Moscow has on multiple occasions warned that any external forces in Ukraine would be considered a "acceptable aim", but has so far not responded on this latest declaration.

The Situation and Ongoing Hostilities

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin initiated a comprehensive attack of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russia currently controls roughly 20% of the country's land.

"This is a vital part of our pledge to be alongside Ukraine for the duration," stated Starmer.

Heads of state and top officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" took part in Tuesday's talks.

Addressing reporters at a joint press conference, the Prime Minister noted: "It establishes the framework for the operational parameters under which allied and coalition forces could operate on the ground in Ukraine, protecting Ukraine's skies and seas, and rebuilding Ukraine's defense capabilities for the time to come."

The British leader added that Britain would be involved in any American-headed verification of a potential truce.

Protection Pledges and Negotiation Stances

Lead US negotiator Steve Witkoff stated that "long-term safety pledges and strong prosperity commitments are essential to a permanent resolution" in Ukraine – mentioning a central requirement made by Ukraine.

He said the coalition had "largely finished" their work on finalizing such pledges "to ensure the Ukrainian people know that when this hostilities ends, it ends forever."

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

Meanwhile, President Macron Emmanuel Macron stated that Ukraine's supporters had made "significant progress" at the talks.

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

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "major step forward" had been made in Paris, but added that he would only deem efforts to be "sufficient" if they led to the end of the conflict.

Recently, he indicated a peace deal was "mostly finalized". Finalizing the last 10% would "decide the fate of the agreement, the future of Ukraine and Europe".

Unresolved Issues

• Sovereign soil and security guarantees have been at the center of ongoing disputes for negotiators.
• Putin has often said that Kyiv's military must pull back from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, dismissing any compromise over how to finish the war.
• Zelensky has thus far excluded surrendering any territory, but has proposed that Ukraine could pull back its forces to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia does the same.

Russia currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region and around 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk region. The two regions form the area of the Donbas.

The initial US-led comprehensive 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 sparked weeks of focused discussions – with the involved parties trying to amend the proposal.

Last month, Kyiv presented the US an updated framework – as well as separate documents describing possible defense assurances and provisions for Ukraine's rebuilding, the President said.