Europe Comes to the Table with a Peacekeeping Plan

Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Emmanuel Macron, President of France, have been working on a framework of how Europe can put a peacekeeping force on the ground in Ukraine once a peace deal is reached between the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine.

Both leaders are meeting with President Trump at the White House this week to present their plans and to talk in more substance with the President on security guarantees for Ukraine. Poland’s President Duda already met with President Trump on Saturday.

The WSJ, in an article on February 23, 2025, described the draft plan as providing up to 30,000 European peacekeepers in Ukraine. These troops would be stationed in cities and ports in Ukraine and far behind the frontlines. Drones and satellites would be used to monitor the frontlines. Continuing to help Ukraine in the field and maintaining a sizeable military capability would also be needed. The plan would assume no U.S. troops in Ukraine but would require the United States to provide air coverage like air defense systems, logistics, intelligence, and a limited role called a “backstop” by the British.

This “backstop” would protect the European peacekeepers if they were put in danger and deter Russia from breaking the cease-fire.

Macron with President Trump on Monday, the third anniversary of the invasion, to provide allied views of the war and how to assuage Ukraine’s concerns.  Today, Starmer will present the peacekeeping framework to Trump without asking for U.S. assistance yet.

Without Trump on board, European officials say the plan will have an uphill battle. The European plan could counter Trump’s interest in improving relations with Russia and put the U.S. military in a situation where they appear adversarial to Russia.

British officials have said American involvement in supporting European peacekeepers is critical in convincing other European nations to participate in peacekeeping and to provide military capabilities Europeans don’t have.

A durable peace between Ukraine and Russia will require deterrents for Russia to invade again. These will need to be an economically stable and growing Ukraine, with strong Ukrainian military defense capabilities and international peacekeepers.

This plan is a good start.