The UK and France have signed a declaration of intent on deploying troops in Ukraine if a peace deal is made with Russia, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced.

After talks with Ukraine’s allies in Paris, he said the UK and France would “establish military hubs across Ukraine” to deter future invasion, while French President Emmanuel Macron later said thousands of troops may be deployed.

Allies also largely agreed robust security guarantees for Ukraine and proposed that the US would take the lead in monitoring a truce. But the key issue of territory is still being discussed.

Russia has repeatedly warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target”.

Moscow has not yet commented on the announcements made in the French capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

(BBC)

Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, told Parliament yesterday that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had personally telephoned him in response to a letter highlighting the prolonged delay in appointing an Auditor General, a vacancy that has remained unfilled since 07 December.

Addressing the House, Dr. de Silva said the President had contacted him following the letter he sent, in his capacity as CoPF Chairman, regarding the urgent need to appoint the constitutionally mandated head of the National Audit Office. During the conversation, the President had sought his intervention to inform the Constitutional Council (CC) about approving the names already forwarded by the President for consideration.

Dr. de Silva said the President had inquired whether he could convey the matter to the Constitutional Council after their discussion. He stressed that both the President and the CC must act in cooperation and in strict accordance with the Constitution, warning that institutional deadlock should not undermine constitutional governance.

He also raised concerns over the Speaker’s decision to prevent the letter he sent to the President from being shared with members of the Constitutional Council, stating that this had been done without any valid basis. Dr. de Silva subsequently tabled the letter in Parliament.

Last week, Dr. de Silva formally urged President Dissanayake to immediately fill the Auditor General’s post, warning that the continued vacancy was disrupting key constitutional functions. In his letter, dated 22 December, he pointed out that the absence of an Auditor General undermines Articles 148 and 154 of the Constitution, which vest Parliament with control over public finance.

He said that the vacancy has severely hampered the work of oversight bodies such as the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), particularly at a time when the country is grappling with a major flood disaster.

As Chair of the Committee responsible for overseeing the National Audit Office, Dr. de Silva stressed that a swift appointment was essential to safeguard transparency, accountability and financial oversight.

In a separate public statement, he warned that Sri Lanka was operating without its constitutionally mandated Chief Auditor at a critical juncture. In a six-point appeal to the President, Dr. de Silva emphasised that an Auditor General must be appointed urgently in the context of ongoing disaster response and reconstruction efforts.

“Given the large number of transactions taking place now with Cyclone Ditwah reconstruction and the yet-to-be-legally-established Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund, an Auditor General must be appointed urgently,” he said in a post on X.

By Saman Indrajith