Britain has not committed to France’s proposal for a one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine, which France said would test Russia’s commitment to ending the war it began with its 2022 invasion.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after European leaders rallied around Ukraine at a summit in London that France and Britain were proposing a one-month truce in Ukraine "in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure".
'Good will'
Such a move "would allow proof of the good will of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin if he commits to a truce," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio on Monday.
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"It's then that real peace negotiations would start. We want a solid peace and a durable peace," he added, emphasising that such a truce would not involve the withdrawal of Russian troops on the ground.
Britain, which hosted the summit, stepped back from embracing the plan on Monday, with Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard telling several media outlets that no truce agreement had been made.
It is "not a plan we currently recognise", he told the BBC.
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"Certainly there are a number of different options being discussed privately between the UK, France and our allies at the moment,” he added.
Ukraine peace plan
British Prime Minister Keir 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.
Macron said in an interview published in Le Figaro late on Sunday that under the plan, European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase.
For Ukraine, any agreement must include security guarantees.
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“We need peace, not endless war. And that is why we say that security guarantees are the key to this,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in a message posted Monday afternoon on the Ukranian presidency’s official site.
Russia said on Monday that the clash between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in Washington showed how difficult it would be to reach a settlement on the conflict.
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European Union leaders will meet for an extraordinary summit on Thursday, 6 March, to discuss additional support for Ukraine, European security guarantees and how to pay for European defence needs.
(with Reuters, AFP)
