SpaceWar.com reports: “European defence ministers held fresh talks Thursday on the potential deployment of troops to secure any Ukraine ceasefire, but there were more questions than answers as US peace efforts with Russia stall.

Britain and France are spearheading discussions among a ‘coalition of the willing’ of 30 countries looking to shore up any deal US President Donald Trump might strike.

‘Our planning is real and substantial. Our plans are well developed,’ UK defence minister John Healey told the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

‘Our reassurance force for Ukraine would be a committed and credible security arrangement to ensure that any negotiated peace does bring what President Trump has pledged, a lasting peace for Ukraine.’

Healey said he did not envisage ‘a peacekeeping force that will separate the currently warring sides down the line of contact’. Bolstering Ukraine’s battered forces would be a key part of the plans, he added.

France’s Sebastian Lecornu echoed his British counterpart, saying ‘the first guarantee of security is obviously support for the Ukrainian army, which means refusing to demilitarise Ukraine, as Russia is demanding’…”