Key Takeaways
- The United States, France, and the United Kingdom have pledged to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, including a truce monitoring mechanism and the deployment of a multinational European force.
- The countries’ representatives, including 27 heads of state or government, gathered in Paris to firm up post-war guarantees for Kyiv.
- The guarantees would see the US lead a truce monitoring mechanism with European participation, alongside the deployment of a multinational European force.
- 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.
- The post-ceasefire architecture would also include beefing up Ukraine’s war-battered army, including by replenishing its weapons stocks, so it could act as the country’s front-line deterrence against a resumption of fighting.
Introduction to the Summit
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 "coalition of the willing", a group of 35 countries that have pledged to support Ukraine against Russian aggression. The countries’ 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.
Security Guarantees and Truce Monitoring Mechanism
French President Emmanuel Macron said the "robust" 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 "several thousand" troops. 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.
US Involvement and Commitment
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, as well as Washington’s top general in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, attended the summit, marking the first time the US envoys had joined the coalition’s talks. Witkoff said that Trump "strongly stands behind security protocols" and that the guarantees are "important, so that the people of Ukraine know that when this ends, it ends forever". Kushner called the Paris meeting "a very, very, big milestone". He said that if Ukrainians were to make a final deal, "they have to know that after a deal, they are secure, they have, obviously, a robust deterrence, and there’s real backstops to make sure that this [a Russian attack] will not happen again".
Post-Ceasefire Architecture and European Support
The post-ceasefire architecture would also include beefing up Ukraine’s war-battered army, including by replenishing its weapons stocks, so it could act as the country’s front-line deterrence against a resumption of fighting. The allies said they must still finalize "binding commitments" setting out what they will do to support Ukraine. 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. 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.
Challenges and Next Steps
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 signaled a willingness to compromise, even as diplomatic efforts to end the war have intensified in recent months. Starmer said the meeting made "excellent progress", but cautioned that "the hardest yards are still ahead", noting that Russian attacks on Ukraine continue. Zelenskyy welcomed the promised security guarantees for Ukraine, saying that the talks had "determined" 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. The Ukrainian delegation would continue its talks on key issues on Wednesday.