Britain and France have declared they are ready to deploy troops to Ukraine in the aftermath of a peace deal, following a summit in Paris of the “coalition of the willing” of Ukrainian allies. The announcement came after hours of talks hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, attended by more than two dozen leaders, the US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Macron and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a trilateral declaration of intent on Tuesday evening. “Following a ceasefire, the UK and France will establish military hubs across Ukraine,” said Starmer. However, the planned ground force is unlikely to engage directly with Russian forces should Moscow relaunch an invasion. Macron said the goal of the force would be “to provide reassurance after the ceasefire” and noted it would be stationed “a long way behind the contact line”. No clarity was given on the size or scope of the potential force.
Macron said the coalition had also drawn up a plan to take on “ceasefire monitoring commitments under American leadership” as well as “long-term support to Ukrainian armed forces”. Witkoff described the security guarantees as “as strong as anyone has ever seen”, adding: “We will be there for the Ukrainians in helping them to get to that final peace.”
The summit took place as Trump’s attention shifts to Venezuela and Greenland, raising questions about trust in US security guarantees. Separately, US and Ukrainian delegations have been trying to sign a bilateral peace agreement for weeks, with territory remaining a sticking point. Zelenskyy said he was ready to discuss directly with Trump if needed.
The Kremlin has said it will categorically oppose any Nato soldiers being based on Ukrainian soil. Starmer acknowledged the challenges, saying: “We are closer to [peace] than ever but of course the hardest yards are still ahead. Putin is not showing he is ready for peace.”
