Thirty-five countries participating in the 'Willingness Alliance' have agreed on a set of robust security guarantees for Ukraine during a summit in Paris. These guarantees will take effect immediately after a ceasefire and include the deployment of a multinational force and a U.S.-supervised monitoring mechanism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this step, describing the summit's documents as substantial and going beyond mere statements. The countries ready to undertake security tasks on land, air, and sea were identified, along with commitments to fund the Ukrainian military and reconstruction projects. The summit concluded with the signing of a declaration of intent by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The document stipulates the deployment of French and British troops and the establishment of military centers within Ukraine. Macron called this 'the key' to ensuring that any peace agreement is not interpreted as a surrender, according to the French Press Agency. Zelensky revealed significant progress in talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on bilateral guarantees and mechanisms for monitoring 'ceasefire violations.' Witkoff confirmed that a large part of the agreement has been reached, though he described the issue of land options as the most complex and requiring settlements. While Zelensky assessed the results of the Paris summit as a major step forward, he emphasized that these guarantees must be based on legal commitments to be effective in deterring any future aggression. In turn, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed reservations about deploying German troops to Ukraine, suggesting that Germany's participation would likely be limited to monitoring tasks from a neighboring country.
