Macron's office confirms security guarantees for Ukraine will be ready in January
The security guarantees for Ukraine, which are to be finalised at a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris in January 2026, will consist of three lines of defence providing for the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine and NATO Article 5-style commitments.
Source: a senior Élysée Palace official, speaking on condition of anonymity to European Pravda
Details: Work on the European and US security guarantees for Ukraine will be completed in January 2026.
"The next meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, planned for early January, should allow us to complete the planning of the security guarantees we will provide to Ukraine," the official said.
The source said that based on the results of the negotiations, as of now, the security guarantees will consist of three lines of defence.
The first line of the security guarantees will be a strong Ukrainian army on the front line of defence, along with the long-term support that the Coalition of the Willing will provide to Ukraine's armed forces to deter Russia from launching another attack.
The second line will be the presence of armed forces from Coalition of the Willing countries in Ukraine as a strategic signal of support for the Ukrainian army. Western troops will also be stationed outside Ukraine to be redeployed if necessary.
"For the troops from Coalition of the Willing states, there is no question of either taking part in combat or monitoring the ceasefire," the French official stressed, adding that ceasefire monitoring would clearly be carried out remotely using surveillance technology.
The third line of security guarantees (the backstop) will be based on the guarantees provided in particular by the United States, which the French official said are "basically a formula akin to NATO Article 5". This is intended to ensure that if Russia restarts the war, it would have to deal not only with Ukraine but with all its allies, including the US.
"The next Coalition of the Willing meeting should complete the process of formulating the security guarantees," the official stressed, adding that these security guarantees are currently being discussed between the Europeans, Ukrainians and Americans at chief of staff level.
Background:
- Earlier on 26 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a 20-point plan for a peaceful settlement of Russia's war against Ukraine is now 90% ready.
- On 24 December, Zelenskyy for the first time disclosed details of the 20-point peace plan agreed with the United States, which states in particular that Ukraine does not agree to give up its NATO aspirations.
- Nor does the draft peace agreement provide for the lifting of US sanctions against Russia, although Washington intends to ease them gradually after the war ends.
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