Tuesday's major Ukraine summit of the so-called 'coalition of the willing' in Paris on Tuesday, where dozens of European leaders were hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, is still desperately trying to salvage strong security guarantees for Kiev as a central part of any future peace deal to end the war with Russia.
Macron vowed that Ukraine's allies and military backers would "make concrete commitments" at the meeting "to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace." The Kremlin is going to see this as yet another exercise in flirting with Russia's red lines - especially the idea of NATO 'Article 5-style' security guarantees.
Reportedly the United States has already agreed to lead a "ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism" with European participation assuming a deal can be reached - based on a draft statement seen by the AFP.
Washington is also said to b willing "support" a European-led multinational force, which would necessitate American boots on the ground "in case" of any new future attack by Russia post-truce deal.
But one never really knows when it comes to President Trump - or what he's ultimately willing to finally sign on to, also at a moment of ongoing friction with the Zelensky government.
It must be recalled that he and his admin officials have been quite vocal time and again about never committing American troops to Ukraine in the context of a fight with nuclear-armed Russia.
Trump himself has been strident on this point, going back even to the early campaign trail. Will he flip? The White House, if it does sign onto this fundamentally European plan or an alteration to the 20-points, is more likely to spin this as "not actually boots on the ground" to satisfy skeptics among the MAGA base.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and American envoys are there in Paris, along with what's said to be an unprecedented amount of other heads of state and defense officials.
Reading the room, this meeting seems much more about Europe taking the reins of the peace deal away from Washington. Just look at the rhetoric... which Moscow will simply receive as dead on arrival:
Downing street has said that Britain will "deploy forces to Ukraine in event of a peace deal." In a statement released after Starmer signed the "declaration of intent" earlier, his office says:
This is a declaration of intent to deploy forces to Ukraine in event of a peace deal. This is a vital part of our iron cast commitment to stand with Ukraine for the long term.
The ‘Multinational Force for Ukraine’ will act as a reassurance force to bolster security guarantees and Ukraine’s ability to return to peace and stability by supporting the regeneration of Ukraine’s own forces.
The signing of the declaration paves the way for the legal framework to be established for French and UK forces to operate on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine’s skies and seas and building an armed forces fit for the future.
In today’s discussions we have also gone into greater detail about the mechanics of the deployment of the force on the ground.
Alongside our plans for a coordination cell, post-ceasefire the UK and France will also establish ‘military hubs’ across Ukraine to enable the deployment and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment to support Ukraine’s defensive needs."
Starmer further said, "Putin is not willing to show peace. We will keep the pressure up on Russia, including further measures on oil trades and shadow fleet operators supporting Russia." And of course this was seconded by all present.
Some interesting long lost faces popped up in Paris...
Meanwhile President Putin is not going to care about the "mechanics" or technical aspects of what such a deployment would look like. He will see it as but a recipe for what his forces have been fighting against all along: NATO soldiers and infrastructure right along border of the Russian Federation... potentially provoking events which could easily lead to WW3.
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