Ukraine's European allies and American emissaries met at a summit on Tuesday at the Élysée, in the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky, in order to display their "convergence" on the security guarantees to be provided to kyiv in the event of an agreement with Moscow. A declaration of intent was signed on the deployment of a multinational force after a ceasefire in Ukraine, a prospect which nevertheless remains distant.

Published on: 01/06/2026 - 6:38 p.m. Modified on: 01/06/2026 - 9:48 p.m.

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Europeans and Americans agreed on Tuesday January 6 in Paris on a set of security guarantees for Ukraine, once a ceasefire has been concluded, with the United States remaining vague on the nature of their commitment.

In a "Paris Declaration", the 35 member countries of the "Coalition of Volunteers", mainly European, agreed to deploy a multinational force in Ukraine and participate in monitoring the ceasefire, under American "leadership", once a peace agreement has been reached with Russia, a prospect that is still very hypothetical.

This declaration “recognizes for the first time” an “operational convergence” between the Coalition, Ukraine and the United States, with “robust” security guarantees, greeted French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Élysée. These security guarantees are "the key to ensuring that a peace agreement can never mean a Ukrainian surrender and that a peace agreement can never mean a new threat for Ukraine", he insisted.

“Several thousand” French soldiers could be deployed

Emmanuel Macron immediately announced on the France 2 channel that “several thousand” French soldiers could be deployed to maintain peace in Ukraine, after the signing of a ceasefire with Russia.

Although they have shown their desire to be in “support”, the United States is not a signatory to the declaration and the precise contours of their military commitment still remain unclear. Donald Trump "strongly supports these security protocols", which aim to "deter any future attack" in Ukraine, noted special envoy Steve Witkoff.

"If Ukraine concludes a final (peace) agreement, it must know that then it will obviously have a solid deterrent and real 'safety nets' to be sure that all this does not happen again," added the son-in-law of the American president, Jared Kushner.

The multinational force, under study for months, will be formed by the willing countries of the Coalition, led by the Europeans and "supported" by the United States, according to the final declaration published by the French presidency.

The American contribution in terms of "intelligence and logistics" and especially the commitment of the United States to provide "support" to the force in "the event of an attack", which appeared in the draft declaration consulted by AFP, are however not mentioned in the final text.

The question of territorial concessions remains

“It is important that the coalition now has substantial documents, and not just words,” welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, even if several questions “remain open” according to him, such as the highly sensitive one of the territorial concessions demanded by Moscow.

The ball is now in Russia's court, the Europeans have insisted. All this "obviously requires good will on the side of the Russian aggressor as well", Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had underlined earlier in the day, while the Kremlin has systematically opposed any Western military deployment in Ukraine.

Moscow also continues to hammer out these territorial demands on the entire mining and industrial region of Donbass, in eastern Ukraine, including the territories still controlled by the kyiv army.

“Hopefully we will be able to reach some compromises,” noted Steve Witkoff, who welcomed “significant progress.”

The Ukrainian president recalled that certain "ideas" - including a demilitarization of contested territories - were on the table and suggested discussing them now "at the level of leaders".

The operational contours of the multinational force also remain unclear, especially since certain countries have maintained a certain caution regarding their contribution. Like Italy, which reiterated on Tuesday its refusal to send soldiers to Ukraine, or even Germany, whose German troops could participate in the multinational force, but only in a NATO member country, neighboring Ukraine, according to Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

With AFP

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