Britain rejects Macron's proposal for month-long ceasefire in Ukraine – Financial Times
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France and the UK have disagreed on a peace plan to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian war, which would have included a month-long ceasefire.
FT reports this concerning a British minister, probably to the UK's Junior Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, who conducted interviews with several media outlets on the morning of March 3.
The Financial Times also writes that the UK has "distanced itself" from Macron's plan. An unnamed British official said a month-long ceasefire is not "the British plan".
"Several options are being considered on the table, which depend on further discussions with the US and European partners, but an agreement on a month-long ceasefire has not been reached," the source added.
Zelensky rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire in the war with Russia, saying that without detailed security guarantees it would be "a failure for everyone." However, he refused to comment directly on Macron's proposal. He only confirmed that he was aware of such a plan.
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The plan, which failed to be agreed upon, was presented the day before by French President Emmanuel Macron as a joint proposal by his country and the United Kingdom. According to him, according to the plan, the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine will provide a limited "ceasefire in the air, at sea and in energy infrastructure" for a month.
Macron explained that the front line is equivalent to the distance from Paris to Budapest; therefore, compliance with the ceasefire on the ground would be "complicated to verify."
He added that the ceasefire would be the first stage, and the next would be the deployment of troops to ensure peace.
At the same time, Macron stressed that there would be no European troops on Ukrainian soil "in the coming weeks." The French leader said this month is needed to achieve negotiations, which will last several weeks.
It is important to note that on March 2, an international leaders' meeting took place in London, the capital of Britain. The gathering included leaders from over 10 countries, alongside senior representatives from the European Union and NATO.
The main topics of the summit:
Strengthening Ukraine's position now – including continued military support and increased economic pressure on Russia;
- the need for a strong, long-term agreement that will ensure permanent peace in Ukraine and ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend itself from future attacks by Russia;
- next steps in planning reliable security guarantees.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also arrived in London. The previous day, during his visit, the head of state of Ukraine met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
After the summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Ukraine would receive 1.6 billion pounds sterling (about 2 billion US dollars) to purchase more than 5,000 air defense missiles.
Keir Starmer also said that Britain is taking essential steps to help Ukraine. These include sending a military contingent and creating a "coalition of the willing" to secure any peace agreement in Ukraine. The United Kingdom will play a leading role in this coalition.
The summit participants also clearly stated that strong security guarantees, including the possibility of involving the mechanisms of the North Atlantic Treaty, must necessarily be the basis of a potential ceasefire.
Before the summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Great Britain and France would work with Ukraine on a peace plan and then present it to Washington for consideration.
