The United Kingdom and France to Deploy Forces to the Country should a Peace Deal is Reached

The London and Paris have inked a memorandum of understanding concerning the stationing of armed personnel in the nation if a peace agreement be made with Russia, the Prime Minister of Britain, Starmer, has announced.

After talks with Kyiv's partners in the French capital, he indicated that the allies would "establish defense centers in various parts of Ukraine and erect protected structures for weapons and defense matériel" to prevent any subsequent invasion.

The partner countries also suggested that the America would take the lead in monitoring a truce.

Moscow has consistently warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered a "acceptable aim", but has so far not commented on this new development.

Background and Ongoing Hostilities

The Kremlin's head Vladimir Putin launched a major offensive of Ukraine in early 2022, and Russia at this time controls approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.

"This is a vital part of our pledge to support Ukraine for the foreseeable future," commented the UK Prime Minister.

Top officials and high-ranking officials from the "Coalition of the Willing" took part in the recent discussions.

He stated at a combined announcement, the Prime Minister noted: "It paves the way for the operational parameters under which allied and coalition forces could function on the ground in Ukraine, securing Ukraine's airspace and waters, and rebuilding Ukraine's military for the years ahead."

The PM also stated that London would take part in any Washington-directed monitoring of a potential ceasefire.

Security Guarantees and Negotiation Stances

Senior Washington representative Steve Witkoff stated that "lasting safety pledges and strong prosperity commitments are essential to a lasting peace" in Ukraine – mentioning a key demand made by the Ukrainian government.

Witkoff said the allies had "substantially agreed on" their work on finalizing such pledges "in order that the Ukrainian people know that when this hostilities ends, it ends permanently."

Jared Kushner, former American President Donald Trump's advisor, also participated in the discussions.

Meanwhile, President Macron Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine's partners had made "considerable advances" at the negotiations.

He added that "comprehensive" security guarantees for the Ukrainian government had been agreed in the instance of a possible ceasefire.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a "significant step forward" had been made in the negotiations, but qualified that he would only deem efforts to be "adequate" if they led to the cessation of the conflict.

Recently, Zelensky said a peace agreement was "90% ready". Finalizing the outstanding 10% would "decide the fate of the agreement, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".

Remaining Challenges

• Land and defense assurances have been at the heart of ongoing disputes for the parties involved.
• The Russian President has often said that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donbas or Russia will occupy it, rejecting any concession over how to conclude the war.
• The Ukrainian President has thus far rejected surrendering any territory, but has proposed that Ukraine could pull back its troops to an mutually accepted point – but only if Russia reciprocates.

Russia presently holds approximately 75% of the Donetsk oblast and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk region. The areas form the heartland of the Donbas.

The original US-led 28-point peace plan that was widely leaked to the media last year was seen by Ukraine and its partners in Europe as being heavily skewed in Russia's direction.

This sparked a period of high-level discussions – with Ukraine, the US and European leaders trying to amend the draft.

The previous month, The Ukrainian government sent the US an updated proposal – as well as additional documents detailing possible security guarantees and provisions for Ukraine's recovery, Zelensky stated.