Volodymyr Zelensky and his European counterparts believe that any eventual peace agreement must be protected by the deployment of ground forces to Ukraine, providing “security guarantees”. The intention is that these forces would serve as a tripwire-style deterrence against a future Russian invasion five, 10 or 15 years down the line. After reconstituting Russia’s military and economy thanks to post-war sanctions relief, Vladimir Putin or his successor might then decide to attack Ukraine. But the Russian military would have to deal with Western military forces as well as those of Kyiv.
