The UK and France are developing a plan to deploy up to 30,000 European peacekeepers to Ukraine if Moscow and Kyiv agree to a ceasefire, some European officials have said, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The success of this proposal, however, depends primarily on whether US President Donald Trump agrees to provide limited support for the defense of European troops in Ukraine.
The initial proposal will be submitted to the US president in the next few days when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will hold talks with Trump at the White House.
The plan does not require the US to deploy its own forces on Ukrainian territory. Instead, the US may deploy air defense systems in neighboring countries, as well as put air forces stationed outside Ukraine on alert in the event of a threat to European troops from Russia, reports the BBC. According to the latter’s sources, this European plan to send peacekeepers to Ukraine will be difficult to implement without the support of the US president
According to this plan, British and French troops, along with naval forces and air forces, will form the backbone of the so-called support force. Their task will not be to deploy along the eastern front, but to protect infrastructure, cities, and ports along the Black Sea.