France, UK working on developing one month truce plan for Ukraine, Macron tells Le Figaro

French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer are working on a plan to reach a one-month truce in Ukraine, Macron told Le Figaro on March 2.

Macron's statement comes after European leaders met in London to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, and restoring dialogue between the Ukrainian and U.S. governments following the heated argument between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last week.

Ground and maritime operations, as well as energy infrastructure, would be part of a potential truce plan, Macron told Le Figaro, but would not cover the front lines as it would be too difficult to monitor, he added.

Peacekeeping forces will be deployed on the ground only at the second stage of the plan's implementation, according to Macron. "There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks," he added.

But an unnamed British official denied that such a truce had been agreed upon in London, adding there was not yet agreement on the timing of any potential ceasefire.

Later on March 3, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the U.K. was distancing itself from the truce plan.

"There are various options on the table, subject to further discussions with the US and European partners, but a one-month truce has not been agreed," an official told the outlet.

Macron added that the European Union must also allocate an additional 200 billion euros ($208 billion) to strengthen its defense capabilities in light of a possible U.S. rollback and further Russian threats.

EU countries have to set a target for defense investment of 3%-3.5% of GDP, the French president said. He added defense funds are expected to come through "innovative financing," including joint loans and other EU mechanisms.

These issues will be on the agenda of the emergency European summit on March 6. According to Macron, the EU is also seeking to provide Ukraine with an emergency military aid package worth 20 billion euros ($21 billion) at the meeting in Brussels.

While most European leaders publicly voiced support for Zelensky after his spat with Trump, Starmer called both the Ukrainian and U.S. leaders in an attempt to bridge the rift. The prime minister reportedly aims to tell Zelensky that fixing relations with Trump would be necessary to ensure lasting peace.

The British prime minister and Macron, who visited Washington earlier the previous week, are seeking to mend the ties between Kyiv and the U.S. and present a united front on Ukraine and Russia.

European leaders had previously been sidelined from talks between the U.S. and Russia — concerned that neither the EU nor Kyiv will have a role in negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Ukraine war latest: Europe developing ‘coalition of the willing’ to back ceasefire in Ukraine, Starmer says

Key developments on March 1 - 2: * Europe developing ‘coalition of the willing’ to back ceasefire in Ukraine, Starmer says * UK to provide $2.8 billion loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets * Macron, Starmer working to pacify Zelensky-Trump relations ’because what is at stake is too im…

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk