PARIS, Jan 6 (Reuters) – The United States and European nations on Tuesday closed in on a set of legally binding security guarantees for Ukraine designed to shield it from further Russian aggression once an eventual peace deal is brokered.
Here are key comments made after a meeting in Paris:
STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY
“The president strongly stands behind security protocols. Those security protocols are meant to a) deter any attacks, any further attacks in Ukraine, and b) if there are any attacks, they’re meant to defend, and they will do both.
“They are as strong as anyone has ever seen. Everyone on this panel on this stage up here has acknowledged that.”
“We think we’re largely finished with security protocols, which are important so that the people of Ukraine know that when this ends, it ends forever.
“But we also think, critically, that we are very, very close to finishing up as robust a prosperity agreement as any country has ever seen coming out of conflicts like this.”
JARED KUSHNER, U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S SON-IN-LAW
“I think today was a very, very big milestone.”
“This does not mean that we will make peace, but peace would not be possible without the progress that was made here today…
“If Ukraine is going to make a final deal, they have to know that after a deal they are secure, they have, obviously, a robust deterrence, and there’s real backstops to make sure that this will not happen again.”
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
The signing of the declaration “paves the way for the legal framework under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine’s skies and seas and regenerating Ukraine’s armed forces for the future.
“I can say that following the ceasefire, the UK and France will establish military hubs across Ukraine and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment to support Ukraine’s defensive needs.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT
“These security guarantees are key to ensuring that a peace agreement can never amount to a Ukrainian surrender, and that a peace agreement can never result in a new threat to Ukraine.”
“We all want … peace (in Ukraine) to be fair, lasting and clear-eyed … we want this peace to have its guarantees.”
He later told France 2 TV:
“We’ve expressed our availability to be deployed in this multinational force. These are not combat forces, I want to clarify that for our fellow countrymen. It’s for the day after there’s peace, offering a guarantee of peace and security.
“That’s potentially thousands of men. But it’s not, first of all, for right now. Second of all, it will be part of a plan. And finally it will be part of our existing foreign operations.”
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT
“It has been determined which countries are ready to take the lead in ensuring security on land, in the air, at sea, and in reconstruction. It has been determined what kind of forces are necessary. It has been determined how the forces will be managed and at what levels of command.
“We had very substantive discussions with the American team regarding monitoring to ensure that there are no violations of the peace. America is ready to work on this.
“We believe that documents on security guarantees are ready – bilateral, Ukraine-US, as well as trilateral documents. We expect that they may be signed in the near future.”
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR
“Every partner in the coalition must, under its own domestic procedures, decide in due course what contribution it will make… Germany will continue to contribute politically, financially, and militarily.”
“On the type and scope of a German contribution, the government and the German Bundestag must and will decide once the conditions (of the ceasefire) are clarified.”
That could include, for example, after a ceasefire, deploying forces for Ukraine on neighboring NATO territory.
“We basically rule nothing out.”
DONALD TUSK, POLISH PRIME MINISTER
“We all want to take advantage of this moment when Ukraine and all the countries that participated in this meeting today are demonstrating some good will.
“Let’s face it, Ukraine is ready for compromise, or at least is seriously and earnestly discussing compromise.”
“We must… force or persuade Russia to finally sit down at the table seriously and discuss the terms of peace.”
(Editing by Richard Lough)
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