Overview
- Both governments frame any deployment as contingent on a negotiated ceasefire, and no forces have been sent.
- Emmanuel Macron says France could contribute several thousand soldiers for a peacekeeping and deterrence role, not immediate combat deployments.
- Keir Starmer has offered few specifics on mission size or rules of engagement and says he will seek a parliamentary vote if a deployment is proposed.
- Constraints loom over execution, with the British Army described as heavily tasked with roughly 100,000 deployable troops and UK defense spending at 2.4% of GDP in 2025 with a goal of 3% by 2029.
- Experts including former UK defense minister Ben Wallace warn the mission could strain existing commitments such as NATO rotations in Estonia and would depend on allied political backing, noting Germany’s need for Bundestag approval and expressing doubts about US support.