35 countries agree to security guarantees for Ukraine… and Zelensky calls for legal commitments

During a summit in Paris, 35 countries participating in the “Coalition of the Willing” announced their agreement on a set of solid security guarantees for Ukraine, which will take effect immediately after the ceasefire, and include the deployment of a multinational force and a monitoring mechanism under American supervision.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this step, describing the documents issued by the summit as having realistic content that goes beyond statements, as countries prepared to assume security tasks on land, air and sea were identified, in addition to commitments to finance the Ukrainian army and reconstruction projects.

The summit concluded with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signing a declaration of intent stipulating the deployment of French and British forces and the establishment of military centers inside Ukraine, which Macron considered “the key” to ensuring that any peace agreement is not interpreted as surrender, according to Agence France-Presse.

Zelensky revealed that significant progress had been achieved with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on bilateral guarantees and mechanisms to monitor “violations of the peace,” which Witkoff confirmed, noting that a large part of the agreement had been completed, despite describing the issue of territorial options as the most complex and requiring settlements.

Although Zelensky evaluated the results of the Paris summit as a major step forward, he stressed the need for these guarantees to be based on legal obligations in order to be sufficient to deter any future attack.

On the other hand, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his reservations about deploying German forces inside Ukraine, suggesting that participation be limited to monitoring tasks from a neighboring country.