<figure id="attachment_3235911" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3235911" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3235911" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/880254aa-ukraine-2.jpg" alt="Ukraine" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3235911" class="wp-caption-text">European leaders gathered with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US officials in Berlin to discuss the outline of the peace proposal. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
BERLIN: European leaders on Monday proposed a European-led &#8220;multinational force&#8221; with US support to enforce a potential peace deal in Ukraine, according to a joint statement.
The force would be part of &#8220;robust security guarantees&#8221; for Ukraine from the United States and European powers aimed at guaranteeing that Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war.
The statement &#8211; whose signatories included the leaders of Britain, France and Germany &#8211; was released as European leaders gathered with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin.
The statement also outlined what it said were other points of agreement between a dozen European leaders and US officials in talks over the outlines of a peace proposal.
Ukraine&#8217;s military should continue receiving extensive support, and maintain a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops, the statement said.
Peace would also be maintained by a &#8220;US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism&#8221; that would identify violations and &#8220;provide early warning of any future attack&#8221;, the statement said.
Countries should also make a &#8220;legally binding commitment, subject to national procedures, to take measures to restore peace and security in the case of a future armed attack&#8221;.
The statement was also signed by the leaders of Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, as well as the heads of the European Council and the European Commission.
Progress on security
Earlier on Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that talks in Berlin with two of US President Donald Trump&#8217;s close advisors &#8211; special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#8217;s son-in-law Jared Kushner &#8211; had yielded &#8220;substantial&#8221; progress on security guarantees, long a sticking point over any potential peace deal.
The joint statement also stressed the importance of rebuilding Ukraine&#8217;s economy, with the leaders backing favourable trade arrangements and &#8220;major resources&#8221; for reconstruction.
The signers also said they &#8220;strongly support&#8221; Ukraine joining the European Union.
Talks remain in flux, however, and the statement stressed that &#8220;nothing is agreed until everything is agreed&#8221;.
It remains unclear how Russian President Vladimir Putin might react to the proposals &#8211; particularly the prospect of security guarantees for Ukraine and European troops potentially being deployed on Ukrainian territory.
There also remains the key question of the fate of territory occupied by Russian forces, a sticking point in earlier discussions.
The statement said it is &#8220;now incumbent upon Russia to show willingness to work towards a lasting peace by agreeing to President Trump&#8217;s peace plan and to demonstrate their commitment to end the fighting by agreeing to a ceasefire&#8221;.
Until then, the European leaders &#8220;agreed to continue to increase pressure on Russia to bring Moscow to negotiate in earnest&#8221;.

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