KRAKÓW, Feb 21: Any peace deal between Ukraine and Russia needs to include "robust" security guarantees for Kyiv for it to work, major European powers warned on Friday.
The declaration, made by the defence ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland during a meeting in the Polish city of Krakow, comes as the United States forges on with efforts to broker an agreement between Moscow and Kyiv to halt fighting.
Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia held talks in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday but reached no breakthrough.
The European defence ministers said their Ukrainian counterpart joined them for part of their meeting, in which they stressed their countries' continued support for Kyiv and backed efforts to end hostilities.
NATO chief calls for 'robust security guarantees' on Ukraine vi...
But they said, pointedly, that "ensuring the sovereignty and lasting security of Ukraine shall be an integral part of a peace agreement, and that any settlement will have to be backed up by robust security guarantees for Ukraine".
They underlined that "strong Ukrainian Armed Forces are the first security guarantee for a Ukraine in peace".
Britain and France have taken the lead in preparing for a future deployment of a multinational force to help secure Ukraine during any agreed transition to peace.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in January his country could deploy "several thousand" troops to Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly objected to any military presence provided by NATO countries.
On Friday in Krakow, French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin told journalists that European security depended on "the establishment of a durable peace based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".
"A ceasefire must never be a prelude to a new aggression," she said.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius added that pressure must be maintained on Russia to push it to agree to end hostilities.
"We are deeply convinced that only maximum pressure from sanctions, from measures against the shadow fleet and Ukrainian successes on the battlefield can persuade Putin to back down," he said.
The meeting in Poland of the defence ministers occurred just days before the fourth anniversary of the February 24, 2022 start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Kyiv on Friday that his country was ready to make "real compromises -- but not compromises at the cost of our independence and sovereignty".
