Macron on "assurance forces" for Ukraine: they will not be on the contact line, not every country has stated that it wants to participate
Kyiv • UNN
France is initiating the creation of "assurance forces" to support Ukraine, which will be stationed in strategic areas. Not all countries have expressed a desire to join the initiative.
French President Emmanuel Macron, following the summit of the "coalition of the willing," outlined "forces of reassurance," indicating that they will not be on the "line of demarcation," and noting that not every country has stated that it wants to participate, writes UNN with reference to Sky News.
Details
According to the publication, the "reassurance force," as Macron put it, is a noticeably different term from the "peacekeeping" forces that have been discussed so far.
He stated that these "forces of reassurance" are still in the planning stage, but they will not be peacekeeping forces.
The French leader indicated that several states will participate in the forces, but they will not be on the line of contact, but rather deployed in "strategic areas".
We will hold discussions between our military leaders to determine the locations, the number of forces to be deployed to make it credible, and the capabilities. (...) Nothing has been ruled out, if you look, naval forces, land forces and air forces, these reassurance forces... should not replace peacekeeping forces on the line of contact or a strong and powerful Ukrainian army.
He also said that not every country has stated that it wants to participate.
"It's not unanimous," Macron said, but adds, "We don't need unanimity to achieve this."
Addition
The Paris summit brought together about thirty countries of the European Union and/or NATO, ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement with Russia, but the United States is not participating in this.
The meeting was to discuss the prospect of deploying guarantee forces as part of a future peace settlement with US support.
After world leaders gathered in Paris for the summit of the "coalition of willing" to support Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held the first talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Zelensky previously noted that Ukraine expects from the "coalition of willing" summit in Paris more specifics on which countries are ready to join the security guarantees for our country. In particular, it concerns the sending of a peacekeeping contingent.
Macron planned to use the meeting of leaders to discuss what he called a "force of assurance" of European soldiers who could be stationed at strategic points throughout Ukraine to deter Russia from re-attacking after peace is achieved, adding that it could respond to any aggression.
