“Not a British plan”: France and UK split over proposed Ukraine one-month truce plan

Britain distanced itself from a French-proposed peace initiative for Ukraine that would have included a limited one-month ceasefire.

​In light of potential reductions in or even canceling of US military aid under President Donald Trump, European leaders are actively working to bolster their support for Ukraine to ensure Europe’s security amid Russian aggression and achieve full defense independence from the US.

The apparent France-UK disagreement emerged after French President Emmanuel Macron claimed in an interview with Le Figaro that he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had jointly developed a plan to pause fighting in Ukraine through a targeted one-month truce that would apply to airspace, maritime zones, and energy infrastructure.

The French leader described the initiative as a two-phase process, with the initial truce potentially opening the door to broader peace negotiations.

However, he was clear about immediate limitations:

“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks.”

Macron also acknowledged that monitoring a full ceasefire would be challenging given the extensive front line, which he compared to “the distance from Paris to Budapest.”

France and Britain, however, failed to reach agreement on a peace plan for resolving the Russo-Ukrainian war that would have included a one-month truce, according to AFP, citing a British minister.

The source likely refers to comments from Luke Pollard, junior minister for the UK Armed Forces, who gave multiple media interviews on 3 March.

“Several options are being considered on the table, which depend on further discussions with the US and European partners, but no agreement on a month-long truce has been reached,” an unnamed British official told the Financial Times, adding that the proposal was not a “British plan.”

When questioned by British journalists about the proposed truce, Ukrainian president Zelenskyy neither endorsed nor rejected it, only confirming his awareness of the plan.

The Office of the President of Ukraine previously indicated that any truce discussions should include conditions for prisoner exchanges and the return of deported Ukrainian children.

This Franco-British initiative follows a 2 March summit in London that brought together 18 heads of state and leaders from Europe, Canada, and Türkiye to discuss support for Ukraine.