The Times: France, Britain to send up to 15,000 troops to Ukraine

The United Kingdom and France will send up to 15,000 troops to Ukraine if a peace agreement with Russia is reached, significantly fewer than initially planned, The Times reports, citing sources.

Initially, the UK planned to deploy 10,000 troops as part of a broader coalition of 64,000 personnel. However, the Ministry of Defence later acknowledged these plans were unfeasible given the size of the British army.

According to Times sources, London will deploy fewer than 7,500 troops. France, alongside Britain, is the only other country committed to sending forces to Ukraine, the newspaper notes. Even the combined total of 15,000 troops from London and Paris is considered optimistic.

Under the proposed plans, British and French forces would assist in training the Ukrainian Armed Forces and oversee the construction of specialised facilities for storing military equipment needed to support Ukraine.

On January 6, a “coalition of the willing” summit took place in Paris, attended by European leaders, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, and White House adviser Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian delegation, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was also present.

After the meeting, Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a declaration on deploying multinational forces to Ukraine after the conflict ends.

By Vugar Khalilov