Ukraine is seeking security guarantees from allies as part of a potential peace deal to end the war, nearly three years since the Russian invasion began.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that this could include at least 200,000 European peacekeepers.
In a later interview with Bloomberg, he clarified that the number would depend on the size of Ukraine’s military, which he said Kiev did not want to reduce as part of any deal. The armed forces currently number approximately 800,000 members.
“Yes, there is an ongoing discussion about … military contingents of foreign powers, foreign states that could potentially be deployed in Ukraine,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgi Tihi told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv. “This discussion is at a very early stage.”
He said that “it is too early to talk about exact numbers”, and that the contingent of foreign troops will be only one part of wider security guarantees.
“We think that permanent, reliable security guarantees for Ukraine must include both Europe and the United States of America. This is the way we can ensure that peace is sustainable and lasting,” added Zelenski.
Russia on Thursday rejected the idea of NATO countries sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire in the war with Russia, saying such a move would threaten to trigger an “uncontrollable escalation”.
(Vijesti.ba)
