British armed forces will be deployed on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, Number 10 has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Paris alongside French president Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said “military hubs” will be set up across Ukraine once a peace deal has been reached.
The joint press conference was followed by a statement from Number 10, which said: “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 co-ordination 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.”
America is meanwhile set to provide security guarantees to the peacekeeping force assembled by the so-called Coalition of the Willing, it was revealed after a meeting in Paris on Tuesday.
Peace can only be reached if Russia’s Vladimir Putin is “ready to make compromises”, Sir Keir said, adding that the Russian president was not currently “showing that he’s ready for peace”.
“We will keep the pressure up on Russia, including further measures on oil tankers and shadow fleet operators funding Putin’s war chest,” the Prime Minister added.
According to a summary of the peace deal released by the Elysee, the Americans are set to lead a “ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism”, which the UK is expected to participate in.
A US guarantee, possibly in the form of air defence, has long been considered crucial to halting Russia from further military action in future.
Mr Macron dubbed the agreement the “Paris Declaration” and said via a translator that it offered “strong security guarantees”.
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