France and Britain Propose One-Month Partial Truce in Ukraine, Seek Mediator Role After Trump-Zelenskyy Spat

France and Britain are proposing a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine that would exclude ground fighting, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed in an interview with the daily newspaper Le Figaro on Sunday, March 2.

Macron stated that the truce would cover air, sea, and energy infrastructure attacks.

“In the event of a ceasefire, it would be very difficult to verify (fighting) along the front was being respected,” Macron said, adding that the front line was equivalent to the distance between Paris and Budapest.

Macron said this while en route to London for a meeting with European leaders, organized by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to push forward efforts on a Ukraine peace plan.

The London summit followed two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump ended in turmoil.

In response, world leaders have expressed strong support for Zelenskyy and pledged to increase assistance to Ukraine.

According to Macron, under the Franco-British proposal, European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase.

“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” Le Figaro quoted Macron as saying.

“The question is how we use this time to try to obtain a truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace is signed, a (troop) deployment.”

When asked in London whether he was aware of the plan, Zelenskiy told reporters: “I’m aware of everything.”

Macron emphasized the need for France and other European nations to increase defense spending, suggesting it could range between 3% and 3.5% of their gross domestic product. He also urged the European Commission to explore more innovative approaches to financing defense expenditures.