UK and France to send troops to Ukraine if peace deal agreed

According to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the UK and France have signed a statement of intention on sending troops in UKraine if a peace agreement is reached with Russia. Following talks with UKraine's allies in Paris, he said that the UK and France will establish military hubs across UKraine to prevent future invasion, although French President Emmanuel Macron later announced that thousands of troops would be deployed. Significant defense guarantees for Ukraine were also signed by the Allies, and it was also agreed that the US would lead a truce monitoring a cease-fire. However, the most significant issue of territory is also being addressed. Any foreign troops in Ukraine, Russia has stated consistently, would be a "legitimate threat.

Moscow hasn't commented on the developments in France's capital. In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow now controls around 20% of Ukraine's territories.

In Tuesday's talks in Paris, heads of state and top officials from the Coalition of the Willing party attended. Starmer said at a joint press conference after the meeting:

We signed a statement of intention on the deployment of forces to Ukraine in the case of a peace deal.

This is a critical piece of our long-term commitment to Ukraine.

It paves the way for the regulatory framework under which British, French, and allies may operate on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine's skies and seas, and regenerating Ukraine''s armed forces for the future.

In any US-led investigation of a potential ceasefire, the UK prime minister confirmed that London would participate.

Durable security guarantees and robUSt prosperity promises are essential to a long-running peace

in Ukraine, according to top US negotiator Steve Witkoff, referring to mainly Ukrainian demand. The allies largely finished their work on establishing security protocols

so that people of Ukraine know that if this [war] comes to an end, it will be long. After a deal, Ukrainians needed to know that

real backstopswere in place to ensure war willnot happen again,

Jared KUShner, US President Donald Trump's special envoy and son-in-law, said. In the meantime, President Macron said that Ukraine's allies had made

real strides

at the talks. In the case of a potential ceasefire, he said

robust

security guarantees for Kyiv had been reached. In Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a

huge step forward

had been made, but that he would only consider efforts to be

enough" if they resulted in the end of the conflict.

What Ukraine calls defense guarantees and what American officials have described as securityprotocols

could leave some wiggle room for Trump in the case of visiting Kyiv's defense after a future Russian attack, but there is no doubt that Zelensky and his European allies have made a major concession from Washington. We heard little, if any, new information about where a future ceasefire line will be drawn and what territory, now occupied by Russian forces, will be surrendered by Ukraine. Many Ukrainians may have trouble coping with the threat, particularly as Russia continues to strike against cities and critical infrastructure across Ukraine on a daily basis. However, Zelensky knows that the only alternative to a ceasefire and subsequent peace agreement, as the snows fall and the wrathful winds sweep in from the east, is another costly, attritional winter of conflict, with the inevitable loss of life that will strike Ukraine much harder than Russia. Ukraine's president insists that American monitoring, a multinational force on Ukrainian soil, and greater weapons support for his armed forces will convince a sometimes skeptical population that he is right to demand for peace, which has been bolstered by the growing international alliance. Zelensky, who was addressing the Paris press conference, admitted that

milestone

did not necessarily guarantee stability on Tuesday. Real progress still needs Russian assistance, and Moscow has been notably silent in recent days about diplomatic attempts to end the conflict. Putin is known to oppose the prospect of a European-led international force in any of the troubled zones, and he would be hesitant to suspend his troops', although slow, progress if Moscow's war goals haven't been realized. However, pressures on both directions to make compromises and end the conflict are unquestionably increasing. Last week, Zelensky said that a peace agreement was

90 percent prepared. Agreeing on the remaining 10% of the population will "determine the fate of peace, the fates of Ukraine and Europe. Negotiators' unresolved problems have been identified in terms of territories and security guarantees. Putin has consistently warned that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will seize it, rebutting any agreement on how to end the conflict. Zelensky has so far refused to cede any territory, but has speculated that Ukraine might pull its troops to an agreed level, but only if Russia does the same. Moscow now owns 75% of the Donetsk region, as well as 99% of the neighboring Luhansk. Donbas' industrial area is made up of two regions. Last year, the original US-led 28-point peace plan was widely leaked to the media, with Kyiv and its European allies being heavily skewed in RUSsia's favour. This sparked weeks of high-level diplomacy, with Ukraine, the United States, and European politicians all attempting to change the draft. According to Zelensky, Kyiv sent the US an updated 20-point blueprint as well as separate documents outlining potential security guarantees and provisions for Ukraine's reconstruction last month.