French President Emmanuel Macron shared an idea for a European peacekeeping mission in Ukraine that could involve 40,000 troops. The mission would become a new safeguard against future Russian attacks, following the Korean security guarantee model. This will be possible with an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war’s current phase.
Discussion of this mission will be a key topic of Macron’s talks in Warsaw, where he is due to visit on December 12. There are also assumptions that he has already discussed the concept with US President-Elect Trump and President Zelenskyy last Saturday in Paris.
Additionally, Macron has conveyed a message to Trump that Europe cannot be excluded from negotiations with Russia, as it has important security interests at stake. France is ready to support this process financially and assume risk to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The biggest problem, however, remains with Putin’s position: Thus far, he has not given any signal that he is ready to relinquish control over Ukraine.