Germany Says Ceasefire Needed Before Any Ukraine Troop Deployment

By Staff, Agencies

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is a necessary precondition for deploying international troops, stressing that such plans remain unrealistic without Moscow’s consent.

Speaking after the so-called “coalition of the willing” meeting in Paris, Merz said the sequence must be clear: first a ceasefire, then security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a long-term settlement.

“None of this is possible without Russia’s consent, and we are probably still a long way from that,” he said at a press conference in Seeon, Bavaria.

Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Britain and France had signed a declaration of intent to deploy forces to Ukraine and establish “military hubs” in the event of a peace deal.

Moscow has repeatedly and categorically rejected the presence of any Western troops on Ukrainian territory.

Merz added that any move to deploy German forces would require a formal decision by the federal government and a mandate from the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.

Under the Paris proposal, British and French troops would form a non-combat contingent of “potentially thousands,” tasked with protecting weapons facilities and participating in US-led ceasefire monitoring.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that any Western troop deployment would be treated as a “foreign intervention” and that such forces would be considered “legitimate military targets.”

Hungary has also cautioned that the plan risks a direct military confrontation with Russia.