French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 27 that a proposed European armed force in Ukraine could “respond” to a Russian attack.
Macron, together with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has been driving an effort to build a “coalition of nations” willing to support the deployment of an armed force in Ukraine once a peace deal with Russia is reached.
The proposed European forces wouldn’t be stationed on the frontlines in Ukraine, “nor be engaged on the first day opposite Russian forces,” Macron told a news conference.
However, he said, if there was “a generalized aggression against Ukrainian soil,” these armies would “be under attack” and thus under the “usual framework of engagement.”
“Our soldiers, when they are engaged and deployed, are there to react and respond to the decisions of the commander in chief and, if they are in a conflict situation, to respond to it,” Macron said.
He said that such forces could come from “certain European Union member states” and be stationed in “certain strategic locations” in Ukraine.
“These reassurance forces are a French–British proposal,” Macron said, noting that they would aim to offer security guarantees and deter future aggression from Russia.
“So we are not on the frontlines, we don’t go to fight, but we are there to guarantee a lasting peace. It’s a pacifist approach.
“The only ones who would, at that moment, trigger a conflict, a bellicose situation, would be the Russians if they decided again to launch an aggression.”
He said British and French military delegations would deploy to Ukraine in the coming days to develop specific plans.
At the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his European allies to move quickly.
“We need one clear plan—one that we all agree on and start implementing, based on the options and plans that have already been discussed with you and are available to you,” Zelenskyy said.
“We want to invite a small group of people—your representatives—to Ukraine to develop this plan together.”
However, not every EU country is on board.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said late on March 26 that his country opposed any such force.
“[We are] not sending troops on a mission unless they are part of the United Nations, [this] is the only condition for us to deploy military personnel [in Ukraine],” Tajani said.
Poland has previously said that it would not put boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on March 27 that it was “premature” to discuss sending European troops to Ukraine before the conditions of any cease-fire are known.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on March 27 accused France and the UK of hatching plans for “military intervention in Ukraine” under the guise of a peacekeeping mission.
She said that such an intervention could lead to a direct military clash between Russia and NATO.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States has shifted its military focus toward deterring aggression by communist China in the Indo-Pacific.
The Trump administration has also demanded that Europe take more responsibility for its defense.
Trump has said that NATO countries must increase defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product from a current 2 percent goal.
Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, who is leading the U.S. cease-fire negotiations with Ukraine and Russia, has dismissed the idea of European deployment.
“It’s a combination of a posture and a pose and a combination of also being simplistic,” he said in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
