Officials from more than 30 Western countries -- the so-called Coalition of the Willing -- have agreed ensure "politically and legally binding guarantees" for Ukraine once a peace agreement to end the war with Russia is reached.
With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's chief negotiators at the table during the January 6 talks in Paris, the coalition agreed that Kyiv's "ability to defend itself is critically important" to ensure the security of both Ukraine and Europe.
"We confirmed that ensuring the sovereignty and lasting security of Ukraine shall be an integral part of a peace agreement, and that any settlement will have to be backed up by robust security guarantees for Ukraine," a statement issued after the meeting said.
"Both the Coalition partners and the United States will play a vital and closely coordinated role in the provision of these security guarantees," it added.
The meeting was called amid an intense flurry of diplomacy to fine tune a peace proposal aimed at ending Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II.
The statement is the most defined wording the allies have given on military pledges to secure Ukrainians after any peace deal is reached with Moscow.
It says support for Ukraine by the allies would include a US-led cease-fire monitoring and verification mechanism, support for Ukraine's armed forces, a multinational force for Ukraine, and "binding commitments to support Ukraine in the case of a future armed attack by Russia in order to restore peace."
"We are talking about strong security guarantees," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after the meeting.
"These security guarantees are a key that a peace agreement cannot mean a Ukrainian surrender."
European officials have told RFE/RL that there is "a renewed sense of urgency" after a meeting over the weekend of national-security advisers and a gathering of military planners on January 5.
The statement gives no specifics on troops for any multinational force but some officials have said the number that is floating around in various European capitals is that the force will consist of 15,000-20,000 troops, while others hope the level will be closer to 30,000 working under the motto "safe sea, sky and land."
The bulk of the troops will come from France and the United Kingdom, which would lead the land and air component, while Turkey has indicated it would be in charge of securing transport lanes in the Black Sea.
"Following a ceasefire UK and France will establish military hubs across Ukraine," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"We can only get to a peace if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin makes compromises and we have to be frank for all Russia’s words Putin has shown he is not ready for peace," he added without giving further details on the plan.
Unresolved Questions
While the outlines of a Western presence in Ukraine are taking shape, there are still several question marks to sort out, including the rules of engagement and US security guarantees.
"We are largely finished with the security protocol so that the Ukrainian people know that peace comes it will last," Witkoff said, adding further meetings with the Ukrainian delegation would follow.
"The president [Donald Trump] strongly stands behind security protocols. The president does not back down on commitments. We will be there for the Ukrainians to get there for the final peace."
Peace talks have intensified since November, when Trump pressed Zelenskyy to accept a 28-point peace proposal that many saw as heavily favoring Russia.
Ukraine and its European allies -- led by Britain, France, and Germany -- scrambled to develop a counterproposal, eventually putting forward a 20-point plan that took in more of Kyiv's interests, especially on security guarantees and territorial integrity.
Thorny Issues
Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov recently asserted that "most of the positions -- 90 percent of the peace plan -- have already been agreed, work continues on the details."
These details include the thorny issue of territorial concessions with Ukraine pushing the line of contact to be frozen or for the entire Donbas region to become a demilitarized zone.
"We want to be ready so when diplomacy reaches peace we can place the forces of the coalition," Zelenskyy said.
"We need to work on the question of territory. Ukraine needs missiles because every day notwithstanding the diplomacy the Russian strikes continue."
Another issue is the ownership of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant with Kyiv dismissing the idea of Ukraine and Russia running it together, preferring that the United States steps in to sell energy from it to Moscow instead.
Few in Brussels, however, are thinking that Russia would agree on any of these issues with the assessment that the Kremlin still feels it is winning on the battlefield.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said several times in recent weeks that Moscow will achieve the goals of what it calls its "special military operation" either by agreement or force.
With that in mind, the EU is separately preparing a fresh round of sanctions, the 20th since the full-scale invasion nearly four years ago, which is likely to be presented to its member states for approval later in January.
