Boots on the ground to stop Putin? 26 states commit to Ukraine's post-war security
Description
Security guarantees for Ukraine have been agreed at the Paris meeting of the "coalition of the willing" to help Ukraine in its existential fight against Vladimir Putin's Russia. But how will Moscow respond?
French President Emmanuel Macron said "we want fair, long-term peace" as he confirmed the announcement alongside Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. The latter, at war since Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, thanked the coalition partners for their backing and called for a swift and just end to the war.
Ukraine's independence remains at stake, and protecting that going forward is the aim. No one thinks that Putin's quasi-imperial and wholly illegal ambition to capture the whole of Ukraine will suddenly stop if peace is reached.
The guarantees, Macron said, include land, air and sea security and coalition members are ready to send troops if there is a peace deal to defend. If not, then it's a sanctions package against Moscow.
The extent of the role of Donald Trump's America is yet to be revealed. A video call was held with the mercurial US president after the coalition's meeting.
Produced by Mark Owen, Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.