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French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a new European plan for resolving the war in Ukraine. He outlined the proposal, developed jointly by France and the UK, in an interview with Le Figaro on Mar. 2.
The plan put forward by the two countries includes a one-month partial ceasefire. The truce would apply to air and naval attacks as well as to strikes on energy infrastructure. However, it would not extend to ground combat operations. Macron explained that monitoring adherence to a ceasefire along the front line would be “very difficult,” as its length is equivalent to the distance between Paris and Budapest.
The next stage of the plan involves deploying a European peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine, but this step would take place at a later phase.
“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks. The question is how we use this time to try to obtain an accessible truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace is signed, a deployment,” Macron said.
Macron also urged European countries to increase their defense spending:
“For three years, the Russians have spent 10% of their GDP on defense. We must therefore prepare for the future by setting a target of around 3-3.5% of GDP.”
As noted by the publication, this increase in military spending would build “from the 2% painfully achieved by France, and from which many European states are far.”
When asked by the BBC whether he was aware of the France-UK peace plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replied that he was “aware of everything.”
Over the weekend, Zelensky met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III. Starmer assured the Ukrainian president that London would support Kyiv “for as long as it may take.” He also pledged £1.6 billion (just over $2 billion) in British export financing to help Ukraine acquire more than 5,000 air defense missiles.