Transcription
President Zalinski has praised a set of security commitments made by Ukraine's allies. This was at a summit in Paris. It includes a declaration of intent by France and Britain to deploy troops in Ukraine if a peace deal is reached with Russia. Many details still to be worked out, and Russia has previously rejected some of what's being proposed. Here's our Ukraine correspondent, James Wathouse.
As their name suggests, this mostly European coalition has always said it's willing to help Ukraine after the fighting stops, but never how. In Paris, though, there was the first bit of detail. A promise from the UK and France to send troops once a ceasefire is in place. We're told thousands as part of a reassurance force across land, sea, and air. This is a vital part of our Ironcast commitment to stand with Ukraine for the long term.
This group of almost 30 nations also promised to help monitor the frozen front lines to make sure fighting doesn't break out. But the most influential people in the room weren't seasoned politicians, but Donald Trump's friend and real estate investor Steve Wickoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, both now senior ambassadors. European confidence to help Ukraine with troops has been hampered with an American reluctance to step in if there was a direct confrontation with Russia. Although not now, they claimed.
"The president does not back down from his commitments. He is strong for the country of Ukraine and for a peace deal."
Those words might have been more reassuring if Donald Trump hadn't staged an extraordinary military intervention in Venezuela and repeated his desires to take over Greenland, a Danish territory. This US delegation has also been accused of being more friendly to Russia than Ukraine. Before the meeting has even started, European leaders have put out this statement in support of Greenland after Donald Trump's repeated claims of wanting to annex the territory. So, you have this scenario where the ambitions of NATO's most powerful member are making the rest of the alliance nervous.
Europe is trying to unite around Ukraine against Russian aggression as well as attempting to take America with it. And we don't even know what Moscow will agree to in these geopolitical times. This is a continent having to tread carefully. James Waterhouse, BBC News, Paris.
And earlier, my colleague spoke to our chief political correspondent, Henry Zeman.
"This is a UK prime minister committing to send troops to uh serve in another country. Uh that is, you know, one of the uh toughest duties that a prime minister sometimes confronts. It's potentially an open-ended commitment which extends far beyond however long Sakir Stalmer will be prime minister of the UK. Of course, as you say, this is only a commitment in the scenario in which there is uh some sort of a peace deal or ceasefire at least between Russia and Ukraine. That is where people in government still concede. It is tricky to know when and whether Vladimir Putin uh might uh give ground. But nevertheless, there is optimism in government that this is a significant milestone and perhaps most importantly is being seen by the US President Donald Trump and by his administration as a significant milestone which might lead them to put more pressure on Vladimir Putin to sign up to a ceasefire."
Thanks to Henry for