German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated on Thursday that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is an essential prerequisite for deploying international troops, emphasizing that the world remains “far off” from such a development and that any meaningful progress “simply does not work without the consent of Russia.”
Following a “coalition of the willing” meeting in Paris on Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced they had signed a declaration of intent to deploy forces to Ukraine and establish “military hubs” across the country should a peace deal be reached with Moscow. This initiative occurs despite Russia’s repeated declarations that it categorically rejects any Western military presence in the neighboring nation.
Merz elaborated at a press conference in Seeon, Bavaria: “The order should be as follows: first a ceasefire, then security guarantees for Ukraine as a condition for a long-term agreement with Russia. None of this is possible without Russia’s consent. And we’re probably still a long way from that.”
He also noted that any further deployment of German troops would require approval from the federal government and a mandate from the Bundestag.
Under the Paris plan, British and French forces would be tasked with building protected weapons facilities and joining U.S.-led truce monitoring efforts. The contingent is described as a non-combat unit of “potentially thousands.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Thursday that Moscow would regard any Western troop deployment in Ukraine as a “foreign intervention,” adding that such units and facilities would be considered “legitimate military targets” by the Russian Armed Forces.
Zakharova reiterated that peace is achievable only through addressing the conflict’s “root causes,” including restoring Ukraine’s neutral status, demilitarization and denazification, safeguarding minority rights, and recognizing territorial changes from the 2014 and 2022 referendums that brought Crimea and four other Ukrainian regions under Russian control.
Hungary, which has long criticized Western European allies for what it terms “warmongering” in Ukraine, cautioned that the troop deployment plans could “risk direct war with Russia.”
