President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France and Britain were leading efforts to send a “reassurance force” to Ukraine after any end to the fighting with Russia, even if the idea was not approved by all European allies.
“These reassurance forces are a British-French proposition that is desired by Ukraine,” Macron said after a summit in Paris of over two dozen allies of Ukraine in Paris.
“It does not have unanimity today but we do not need unanimity to do this,” he added, saying a Franco-British delegation would head to Ukraine in the coming days to discuss this and the future shape of the Ukrainian army.
“There will be a reassurance force with several European countries who will deploy” to Ukraine, he said.
Macron emphasised that members of such a “reassurance” force were not destined to be peacekeepers, deployed on the front line or any kind of substitute for the Ukrainian army.
Also, he emphasised, not all of Ukraine’s European allies would be represented in the force, with some states not “having the capacity” and some reluctant due to the “political context”.
The Franco-British delegation would begin talks over where such a force could be deployed.
It would have the “character of deterrence against any potential Russian aggression”, he said.
Macron added that the summit agreed that he and Starmer would together “co-pilot” Europe’s “coalition of action for stable and durable peace”.
The UK-France delegation would also discuss the shape of “tomorrow’s Ukraine army”, Macron said, emphasising the importance of a “strong Ukrainian army, well-equipped for the day after”.
