Plans for European NATO troops in Ukraine seen as ‘dead’ – FT
A Franco-British plan to deploy troops from NATO states to Ukraine following a potential truce with Russia is “dead”, an anonymous official has told the Financial Times.
France and the UK, the leading powers in the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’, back deploying troops to Ukraine, ostensibly as a security guarantee for Kiev. Moscow has maintained that it will not tolerate any NATO member's presence in Ukraine under any circumstances.
The US has turned down a request by Kiev's European backers to provide a “backstop” for the proposed mission, with President Donald Trump arguing that America should never have been involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the first place.
The official source told the FT the plan is “preposterous without the help of Trump, and he’s not willing to provide it.”
A French diplomat who spoke to the outlet however insisted that ‘coalition’ members are continuing their planning “at normal pace,” however.
The European efforts are, according to the FT, aimed at bolstering morale in Kiev, demonstrating to Trump that they are committed, and trying to influence US-supported peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.
Russia and Ukraine resumed direct peace talks this month, abandoned in 2022 by Kiev to pursue victory on the battlefield. The first round of renewed dialogue led to the largest prisoner exchange between the two countries since the conflict escalated more than three years ago.
Moscow is also currently preparing a draft memorandum that includes a conditional ceasefire as part of a road map to a peaceful resolution.
Kiev has accused Moscow of lacking goodwill by rejecting a 30-day unconditional pause in the fighting – a demand Russia has dismissed as a tactic to gain military advantage.
Ukrainian forces have stepped up long-range strikes deep into Russian territory in recent weeks. The Russian military said on Wednesday that it shot down 296 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over a ten-hour period overnight.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky said on Tuesday the increase in attacks is a mirror response to Russian operations. Moscow has recently launched several strikes inside Ukraine, reportedly targeting a major kamikaze drone facility in Kiev and other military sites.
