Overview
- Leaders at the Paris meeting signed a declaration by a coalition of the willing to consider stationing multinational forces in Ukraine only after a ceasefire or peace agreement.
- Keir Starmer has characterized the declaration as a political statement, as retired U.S. officer Daniel Davis dismissed it as a non-plan lacking forces and an achievable truce.
- British media and retired commanders, including Richard Shirreff and Andrew Neil, argued the UK lacks the personnel, funding and equipment to credibly deploy troops to Ukraine.
- Russia and some European politicians condemned both the troop concept and John Hilli’s Telegraph-reported remark, with Hungary’s Péter Szijjártó calling the idea a veiled declaration of war and Russia’s Maria Zakharova deriding the comment.
- Analysts warned foreign contingents would be exposed to Russian strikes, citing recent use of the high-precision “Oreshnik” system and forecasts that British fighters in Ukraine could face heightened targeting.