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After nearly four years of major conflict, Ukraine has received a series of concrete security guarantees – backed by more than 30 countries, including Canada – that it can take into account in possible peace talks with Russia.
The agreement, backed by the “Coalition of the Willing,” provides for specific troop commitments from Western countries to deter Russia from resuming war if a ceasefire comes into effect.
“It’s all about laying the practical foundations on which peace will rest,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who indicated that the hardest work remains to be done.
“We can only reach a peace agreement if Putin is ready to compromise. So we must be frank: despite all Russia’s words, Putin is showing that he is not ready for peace.”
As part of the guarantees signed Tuesday, the United States pledged to help monitor a possible ceasefire.
France and the United Kingdom have promised to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine if a ceasefire comes into effect in order to build regional supply centers that would pave the way for a larger troop deployment if Russia resumes its offensive.
Canada pledged a substantial and continued commitment to the force that would support the peace agreement. It’s unclear exactly what type of forces Canada would deploy, in part because the army, short on personnel and equipment, is in rebuilding mode.
Before the meeting, Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked whether Canada had the capacity to meet its commitment.
“Do we have the bench strength, to use your terms? Well, we built that bench,” Carney said. “We will continue to build this bench [with] the largest military buildup in generations coming over the next five years. »
He said the government $81.8 billion planned defense investment during this period was “partly because of problems like this”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the agreement “a very concrete document” and thanked the countries involved.
Reaching that deal was difficult because leaders were distracted by U.S. military action in Venezuela and renewed threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to annex Greenland.
WATCH | Carney asked about US threats against Greenland:
Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked Tuesday about U.S. threats around Greenland, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview that the United States’ choice to use military force against another NATO country would mean “everything would stop” — including NATO and the post-war security offered by the transatlantic organization.
A US defense expert said the coalition countries will have to explain to their public what the package of security guarantees in Ukraine means.
“The public needs to understand that their governments are committed to the use of military force in the context of a ceasefire agreement,” said Matthew Schmidt, a former US Army War College instructor and associate professor at the University of New Haven, Connecticut.
There are many aspects of security guarantees that Russia will find objectionable and has already completely excluded, including the NATO presence in Ukraine.
Schmidt said coalition members, including Canada, should prepare for Moscow to try to undermine the deal through disinformation.
“This is exactly the kind of thing that Putin would use… to push public opinion against it,” Schmidt said.
The idea, he said, would be to tell people in Western countries that they don’t understand what it would mean to have troops on the ground in Ukraine, potentially fighting the Russians.
“As they are able to push the information space in this direction, they could, over time, weaken public support for this coalition,” Schmidt said.
