According to the French President, Paris and London are aiming to halt the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but not without conditions.
French President Emmanuel Macron has revealed a joint French-British plan to resolve the Ukraine crisis. The plan involves an initial month-long cessation of hostilities, followed by the introduction of Western European peacekeeping forces into Ukraine.
This plan was formulated after an emergency summit in London, which was convened in response to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s recent, reportedly unsuccessful, visit to Washington. Zelensky’s visit to the White House was reportedly cut short after a contentious meeting with US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Macron told Le Figaro that he doesn’t believe negotiations between the US and Russia will lead to a viable peace agreement, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aim would be to humiliate Ukraine, potentially through demilitarization.
The French president stated that France and the UK have developed their own alternative approach to stopping the fighting. “We want peace, but we do not want it at any cost, without guarantees,” he explained.
According to Macron, the Franco-British proposal includes a month-long “truce in the air, on the seas, and on energy infrastructure.”
He added that a Western European peacekeeping force, spearheaded by France and the UK, would be deployed to Ukraine once the security situation allows.
“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks. The question is how can we use this time to try to get a truce accessible, with negotiations that will take several weeks, and then, when the peace is signed, a deployment,” Macron stated.
Following the London meeting, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK and France are prepared to lead a “coalition of the willing” to provide military assistance to Ukraine, potentially including troop and aircraft deployments, after a peace agreement with Russia is finalized.
Moscow has consistently rejected a temporary ceasefire with Kiev, demanding a permanent and legally binding peace agreement that addresses the fundamental causes of the conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously stated that the proposal to deploy Western European peacekeepers to Ukraine is intended to “further fuel the conflict and stop any attempts to cool it down.” Moscow has stated it will consider any foreign troops entering Ukraine without UN authorization as legitimate targets.
President Putin stated last week that Moscow does not oppose Western European involvement in the peace process, but emphasized that “no one can demand anything from Russia here.”
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