Britain and France have agreed to send troops to Ukraine if they reach a peace deal with Russia, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, amid renewed demands from Western leaders to ensure Kiev’s post-war security and deter further Russian aggression.
After officials from 35 countries gathered in Paris for a so-called “coalition of the willing” meeting, Mr. Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a “declaration of intent” that would put Britain and France’s boots on the line in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, a move Russia has long staunchly opposed.
“Following the ceasefire, Britain and France will establish military bases across Ukraine and build shelters for weapons and military equipment to support Ukraine’s defense needs,” Starmer said at a joint press conference with European leaders, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Tuesday’s meeting, the largest since the coalition took office last spring, risked being overshadowed by the U.S. ousting of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro and Trump’s coveting of Greenland, a vast Arctic territory ruled by Denmark. Days after the Venezuela attack, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, emphasized the administration’s claims to the island, telling CNN that Greenland “naturally” should be part of the United States and that “no one is going to fight the United States” over its future.
Analysts had questioned before the meeting whether the United States could be trusted to guarantee the security of Ukraine, which has threatened to seize territory from fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member Denmark.
But despite Washington’s sharp pivot toward the Western Hemisphere, Witkoff stressed that the Trump administration remains determined to “do everything possible” to bring peace to Ukraine and said “a lot of progress” had been made in Paris.
Referring to Russia’s nearly four-year war, the special envoy said, “We believe the security protocols are almost complete, but they are important to let the Ukrainian people know that once this ends, it ends forever.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte said Tuesday’s meeting was “very successful” in an interview with CNN on the sidelines of the meeting.
“If this happens, I am absolutely sure that President Putin will never try to attack Ukraine again,” Rutte said.
There was no immediate response from Moscow, but the Kremlin has repeatedly stressed that it does not consent to foreign troops operating in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force. President Vladimir Putin said in September that Western forces in Ukraine are considered “legitimate targets.”
In a joint statement, coalition member states said that if a peace deal were reached, security would include a “continuous and reliable ceasefire monitoring system” led by the United States and supported by other countries.
Member states also agreed to provide Ukraine with “significant long-term military support and armaments” and to deploy a multinational force to ensure Ukraine’s “air, sea and land” security.
Britain and France had previously announced their intention to send troops to Ukraine after the ceasefire, but Starmer said the deal would set out a legal framework to allow troops to operate in Ukraine.
“Such security is key to ensuring that the peace agreement in no way means Ukraine’s capitulation or new threats to Ukraine,” President Macron said. He cited Russia’s history of breaking peace agreements with neighboring countries and said Ukraine’s allies want to prevent such violations from happening again.
Macron said member states also agreed to provide “all necessary resources” to provide Ukraine with 800,000 troops. An early draft of the peace plan released in November was criticized as heavily favoring Russia and called for limiting Ukraine’s military personnel to 600,000. Ukraine rejected the 28-point plan and has since worked on revised drafts in several meetings with U.S. officials.
Tuesday’s agreement is the clearest indication yet of how Ukraine’s allies intend to guarantee security if a peace deal is reached, but the deal itself remains elusive.
“A peace deal can only be reached if President Putin is willing to compromise,” Starmer said. “Contrary to Russia’s words, President Putin has not shown that he is ready for peace.”
Despite intense diplomacy between the United States and Ukraine in December, hopes for a quick peace deal were dashed when President Putin told President Trump that Ukraine had launched a major drone attack on one of Putin’s residences. President Trump said he was “very angry” upon hearing the claim, which the CIA later determined was not true.
Mr Starmer said Putin had “tried to distract from the peace effort with unsubstantiated claims that his official residence had been attacked… this only hardens our resolve”.
