 "Paris chosen as nerve centre for post-ceasefire Ukraine force; US joins talks for the first time")
Countries ready to contribute troops for a post-ceasefire force in Ukraine have agreed to establish a headquarters in Paris for rapid deployment once hostilities in Russia’s war on Ukraine cease.
A US delegation participated in the group’s meeting for the first time on Thursday, held on the sidelines of the Ukraine recovery conference in Rome. Retired Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, attended alongside Senators Lindsey Graham (Republican) and Richard Blumenthal (Democrat), who have co-sponsored a sanctions bill that includes a proposed 500% tariff on imports from nations buying Russian oil.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also joined the meeting via videoconference from Britain, where Macron is currently on a state visit.
In a statement, coalition members said they had agreed on a Paris headquarters for the first year of the force, which is to be known as the Multinational Force Ukraine, and then rotating it to London, with plans for a coordination cell in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
The force, whose members were not identified, is expected to provide logistical and training experts to help reconstitute Ukraine’s armed forces, secure Ukraine’s skies and the Black Sea. No specific commitments were announced and it wasn’t clear in what capacity the US delegation attended.
Starmer said the “reassurance force” is essential for delivering security to Europe.
“That is why the coalition of the willing is ensuring we have a future force that can deploy following a ceasefire to deter Russian aggression for years to come,” he said in a statement.
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More ShortsItalian Premier Giorgia Meloni said she was proud that Washington’s participation in the coalition meeting, the sixth since the war began, happened in Rome and said it was a “fundamental” sign of Western unity in backing Kyiv.
“I do agree on the fact that we must also increase pressure on Moscow to achieve as soon as possible a ceasefire that will finally make way for diplomacy,” she said. “But as always we have to remind that it only can happen thanks to deterrence, it only can happen thanks to deterrence, as anyone who is not naive perfectly understands.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, also thanked Kellogg, Graham and Blumenthal for their attendance, as well as recent signs from Trump of support for Ukraine.
“His signals are very, very important, and we count on it,” Zelenskyy said. “And I’m sure that in the future, we will develop the coalition of the willing together.”
With inputs from agencies
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