The United States has backed security guarantees for Ukraine, including leading a truce monitoring mechanism, as France and the United Kingdom pledged to deploy forces to Ukrainian territory if a ceasefire is reached with Russia.
The pledges came on Tuesday at a summit of the so-called âcoalition of the willingâ, a group of 35 countries that have pledged to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
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The countriesâ representatives, including 27 heads of state or government, gathered in Paris to firm up post-war guarantees for Kyiv. Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the ârobustâ guarantees would see the US lead a truce monitoring mechanism with European participation, alongside the deployment of a multinational European force.
Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a declaration of intent after the talks, setting out the framework for such a deployment.
Macron said that Paris could contribute âseveral thousandâ troops.
In a sign of closer transatlantic coordination, the summit was also attended by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared â Kushner, President Donald Trumpâs son-in-law, as well as Washingtonâs top general in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich. It marked the first time the US envoys had joined the coalitionâs talks.
Witkoff, who has led talks with Russia, âsaid that Trump âstrongly stands behind security protocolsâ and that the guarantees are âimportant, so that the people of Ukraine know that when this ends, it ends foreverâ.
He added, âThose security protocols are meant to: a, deter any attacks, any further attacks in Ukraine; and b, if there are any attacks, theyâre meant to defend, and they will do both.â
Kushner called the Paris meeting âa very, very, big milestoneâ.
He said that if Ukrainians were to make a final deal, âthey have to know that after a deal, they are secure, they have, obviously, a robust deterrence, and thereâs real backstops to make sure that this [a Russian attack] will not happen againâ.
World leaders at the âcoalition of the willingâ summit for Ukraine on Tuesday [Ludovic Marin via AP]
The coalition said in a statement that the allies will participate in a proposed US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism, which officials said would likely involve drones, sensors and satellites, not US troops.
The coalition also agreed to establish a US-Ukraine coalition coordination cell in Paris, and to continue supplying Kyivâs front-line forces with equipment and training, as well as back them up with air, land and sea support, to deter any future Russian attack.
According to the statement, the post-ceasefire architecture would also include beefing up Ukraineâs war-battered army, including by replenishing its weapons stocks, so it could act as the countryâs front-line deterrence against a resumption of fighting.
The allies said they must still finalise âbinding commitmentsâ setting out what they will do to support Ukraine.
The statement was not explicitly endorsed by the US, and details of a role for Washington were watered down from an earlier draft, notably removing language that outlined the âuse of US capabilities to support a multinational force in Ukraine.
But European officials hailed the involvement of the US envoys and their strong comments as evidence âthat Washington stood behind the security framework.
Russia has yet to comment on the Paris meeting and has given no indication it would accept a settlement backed by foreign troops inside Ukraine, a condition it has previously rejected.
Moscow occupies about a fifth of Ukrainian territory and has not signalled a willingness to compromise, even as diplomatic efforts to end the war have intensified in recent months.
Starmer said the meeting made âexcellent progressâ, but cautioned that âthe hardest yards are still aheadâ, noting that Russian attacks on Ukraine continue.
He said peace would only be possible if Russia compromises.
In the event of a ceasefire, Starmer said the UK and France âwill establish military hubs across Ukraine and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment to support Ukraineâs defensive needsâ.
Zelenskyy welcomed the promised security guarantees for Ukraine.
âItâs important that today the coalition has substantive documents. These are not just words. There is concrete content: a joint declaration by all the coalition countries and a trilateral declaration by France, Britain and Ukraine,â he said.
He said the talks had âdeterminedâ which countries would take the lead on ensuring security and on reconstruction, as well as which forces were necessary and how they would be managed.
He added that the most significant issue still to be resolved was âthe territorial questionâ, referring to Russian demands that Ukraine give up its eastern Donbas region.
Writing on Telegram after the talks, Zelenskyy said the agreements were âa signal of how seriously Europe and the entire coalition of the willing are ready to work for real securityâ.
But he said that it remained to be determined how the monitoring would work and how the Ukrainian army would be supported and financed.
He went on to thank the US âfor its readiness to be a backstop in all areas â security guarantees, monitoring a ceasefire and rebuildingâ, and added that the Ukrainian delegation would continue its talks on key issues on Wednesday.
Germany signalled a more cautious stance.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said German forces could join to monitor a ceasefire, but would be based in a neighbouring country. âWe will certainly have to make compromisesâ, he said, adding that âwe will not achieve textbook diplomatic solutionsâ.
Belgium said it would support the effort through its navy and air force, while Croatia and the Czech Republic said they would not deploy troops.
European leaders present at the meeting, including Macron, Starmer, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, stressed that the statement showed renewed unity between Europe and the US on helping Ukraine.
Macron and Starmer brushed aside questions about whether they could rely on commitments by Trump, particularly given his renewed claims âthat the US should take over Greenland, an autonomous part of Denmark, a NATO member.