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French President Emmanuel Macron has said that nations providing security guarantees for Kyiv—in case a ceasefire agreement is reached—wouldn’t be deploying a “mass” of soldiers, but could instead send contingents of troops to key locations in Ukraine without requiring Russia’s permission, the Guardian reported.
According to the report, Macron told regional newspapers that “several European countries, and indeed non-European ones” had “expressed their willingness” for a prospective deployment of troops to Ukraine so as to finalise a truce deal with Moscow.
The move could see “a few thousand troops” from each state being deployed at “key points” in Ukraine to carry out training drive and “show our long-term support”, the Guardian quoted the French President as saying.
“Under no circumstances can the Ukrainians make territorial concessions without having any security guarantees,” he reportedly said.
Last week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had urged the international community to put “maximum pressure” on Russia, saying that Putin’s response to the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire was “not good enough”.
Speaking at a press conference after the virtual meeting of the “coalition of the” willing”—a group of Western nations that have pledged to help defend Ukraine–Starmer reportedly said Russia’s ‘yes but’ was not good enough.
“In terms of Russia’s position, I think it is very important that we put maximum pressure on Russia. This ‘yes but’ is not good enough, and that’s why the collective result this morning was to put pressure, and we can collectively put pressure on Russia,” Starmer had said, foreign media reported.
Stressing that it was time to engage in discussions on a lasting peace backed by strong security arrangements, the British PM added, “Russia’s appetite for conflict and chaos undermines our security back here in the United Kingdom. It drives up the cost of living, it drives up energy costs so this matters deeply to UK. Now is the time to engage in discussions on a mechanism to manage and monitor a full ceasefire and agree to serious negotiations towards not just a pause but a lasting peace backed by strong security arrangements through our coalition of willing”.
Meanwhile, Lithuania has accussed Russia of the arson of Ikea store in 2024 “to undermine support for Ukraine”.
Russian military intelligence was behind the arson of an Ikea store in Vilnius in 2024, the report stated, quoting the Lithuanian prosecutor general.
According to the report, the Lithuanian authorities—in an update on the investigation—have said the “main suspect engaged with Russian military” and security services and “accepted payment for plans to attack” shopping centers in Lithuania and Latvia to “intimidate the societies of both countries” seeking to block their support for Ukraine.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk had earlier suggested that the group involved in the Ikea arson attack could also be linked to similar incidents in Poland, the report stated.
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