France and Britain are proposing a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine that would cover air, sea and energy infrastructure attacks but not include ground fighting, French President Emmanuel Macron and his foreign minister said.
The comments came amid a flurry of European diplomacy designed to shore up Western support for Ukraine following a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.
"Such a truce on air, sea and energy infrastructure would allow us to determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith when he commits to a truce. And that's when real peace negotiations could start," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday.
Under the Anglo-French proposal, European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Macron said in an interview published in Le Figaro late on Sunday.
"There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks," Le Figaro quoted Macron as saying as he flew to London for a meeting of European leaders, convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to advance efforts at drawing up a Ukraine peace plan.
"The question is how we use this time to try to obtain a truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace is signed, a (troop) deployment," Macron said.
The French president did not elaborate on how air, sea and energy infrastructure could be monitored.
"In my eyes that can only be possible with NATO or at least NATO command and then Patriot systems, long-range missiles and aviation, which Ukraine does not have," said a European diplomat. "And you have to negotiate with Russia so that it doesn't carry out the massive attacks."
The Kremlin, which has rejected the idea of Western troops being deployed to Ukraine, said on Monday the Oval Office clash between Trump and Zelenskyy showed how difficult it would be to reach a settlement on the conflict in Ukraine.
'DIFFERENT OPTIONS'
Zelenskyy, asked if he was aware of the plan mentioned by Macron, told reporters in London: "I'm aware of everything."
On Monday, however, UK armed forces minister Luke Pollard declined to confirm the ideas aired by Macron and Barrot, saying: "That's not a plan that we currently recognise."
"Certainly there are a number of different options being discussed privately between the UK, France and our allies at the moment. It's probably not right for me at the moment to comment on each individual option as they occur," Pollard told the BBC.
Starmer said on Sunday that European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the United States, without going into details.
Meanwhile, the parties in talks to form Germany's new government are considering quickly setting up two special funds potentially worth hundreds of billions of euros, one for defence and a second for infrastructure, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Economists advising the parties that will likely form a new government coalition estimate around 400 billion euros ($415 billion) are needed for the defence fund, the people said.
Friday's heated White House exchange between Zelenskyy and Trump has increased a sense of urgency in Berlin to act faster on spending for Germany's own defence and for Ukraine, they said.
European Union leaders will meet for an extraordinary summit on March 6 to discuss additional support for Ukraine, European security guarantees and how to pay for European defence needs.
Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had b...
An Azerbaijani citizen died and another is missing after a cargo ship was attacked by a drone in the Black Sea, near the coast of Romania on Monday...
Azerbaijan is seeking to attract more European visitors by improving air connectivity and raising its profile as an international tourism des...
Australian counterterrorism authorities are examining the links of the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain and attempting to take control of a flydubai flight bound for Israel. Authorities in New Zealand have also said they are investigating reports the suspect had spent time in that country.
Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and locals said their lives had barely been disrupted.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
An Azerbaijani citizen died and another is missing after a cargo ship was attacked by a drone in the Black Sea, near the coast of Romania on Monday, 5 October, Baku's Foreign Ministry has said.
The German-Azerbaijani Connectivity Conference 2026 commenced on 6 October in Baku under the title “Mobilising Finance for Infrastructure, Transport, Logistics, Green Energy, and Digitalisation along the Middle Corridor.”
Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and locals said their lives had barely been disrupted.
Space-agency chiefs and industry leaders met to discuss lunar exploration, satellite networks and orbital security on Tuesday as a major global space congress entered its second day.
Police fired tear gas at protesters blockading French high schools on Tuesday as students, teachers and parents took to the streets on the biggest day of action in a wave of demonstrations against understaffed and dilapidated classrooms.
A large Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region has killed two people, damaged homes and sparked a major fire at a key fuel facility, according to Russian officials and military bloggers.
Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola after a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died in Nairobi, prompting health authorities to launch an urgent contact-tracing operation.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment