UK and France to Deploy Military Personnel to Ukraine in the event that a Ceasefire Accord is Finalized

The British and French governments have signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the deployment of armed personnel in the nation if a ceasefire be concluded with Moscow, the Prime Minister of Britain, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced.

Following negotiations with Ukraine's allies in the French capital, he indicated that the two nations would "establish operational bases in various parts of Ukraine and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment" to prevent any subsequent incursion.

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

Moscow has on multiple occasions stated that any non-Ukrainian military in Ukraine would be considered a "legitimate target", but has so far not commented on this new announcement.

Context and Continuing Conflict

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin launched a comprehensive attack of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russia at this time occupies approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This represents an essential component of our commitment to stand with Ukraine for the long-term," remarked Starmer.

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

Addressing reporters at a shared media briefing, the Prime Minister noted: "It establishes the framework for the juridical structure under which allied and coalition forces could function on the ground in Ukraine, protecting Ukraine's airspace and waters, and regenerating Ukraine's armed forces for the time to come."

The UK prime minister went on to say that the UK would participate in any Washington-directed confirmation of a possible truce.

Defense Assurances and Negotiation Stances

Lead US negotiator Steve Witkoff stated that "long-term defense assurances and substantial prosperity commitments are vital to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – mentioning a major demand made by Kyiv.

The negotiator indicated the coalition had "largely finished" their work on finalizing such pledges "so that the Ukrainian people know that when this conflict ends, it ends for good."

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

At the same time, President Macron Emmanuel Macron stated that Ukraine's partners had made "considerable progress" at the negotiations.

He noted that "strong" defense assurances for the Ukrainian government had been reached in the instance of a prospective truce.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that a "huge step forward" had been made in the negotiations, but qualified that he would only deem efforts to be "enough" if they resulted in the conclusion of the conflict.

Last week, he indicated a peace deal was "largely prepared". Finalizing the outstanding 10% would "shape the fate of the agreement, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Outstanding Matters

• Territory and security guarantees have been at the heart of key disagreements for negotiators.
• Moscow has repeatedly warned that Ukraine's forces must pull back from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take control, refusing any compromise over how to finish the war.
• Zelensky has to date ruled out ceding any land, but has proposed that Ukraine could withdraw its forces to an designated point – but only if Russia does the same.

Russian forces presently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk region. The areas form the industrial region of the Donbas.

The original US-led multi-point peace plan that was extensively reported to the media last year was viewed by Kyiv and its partners in Europe as being strongly biased in Russia's favor.

This led to weeks of high-level discussions – with all sides trying to revise the draft.

Last month, The Ukrainian government presented the US an updated 20-point plan – as well as separate documents detailing possible defense assurances and arrangements for Ukraine's reconstruction, he added.