Coalition Sets Ukraine Security Framework

Ukraine and its international partners signed a joint declaration and a separate trilateral agreement involving France, the United Kingdom and Ukraine during a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Jan. 6. The documents are intended to support legal preparations for deploying multinational forces and implementing security guarantees if diplomacy ends the war.

Zelenskyy said participating countries had identified which nations would lead security efforts on land, in the air and at sea, as well as in Ukraine’s reconstruction. Officials also discussed the size and structure of the forces, command arrangements, monitoring mechanisms and the long-term financing of Ukraine’s military.

Military officials from France, the United Kingdom and Ukraine worked on potential deployments, troop numbers, weapons and other military requirements, according to Zelenskyy. He added that U.S. officials had discussed monitoring compliance with a future peace agreement and that Kyiv and Washington had made progress on documents concerning legally binding security guarantees, potentially requiring approval by the U.S. Congress.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the coalition had established ceasefire-monitoring mechanisms and was preparing multinational forces to support Ukraine after a ceasefire. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for long-term security commitments, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said any future agreement should provide more durable guarantees than the Minsk agreements. Participants also discussed territorial issues, air defense and Ukraine’s economic recovery amid continuing Russian attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure.