American guarantees remain critical to any Ukraine peace guarantee force

At a Paris summit this week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 countries had agreed to provide postwar “security guarantees” for Ukraine as a part of any postwar deal between that country and Russia. Macron spoke of an international force ready to act “by land, sea, and air.” But he also noted that some states would not send troops but instead provide training or equipment.

Thus, unanswered questions pile up: Who would actually send troops to Ukraine? How many? Under which flag? Where would they be stationed: on the front lines, just behind the front lines, in Kyiv, or in the relative safety of western Ukraine?