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Media: Kyiv Initiates Negotiations On Deploying Foreign Military In Ukraine

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Media: Kyiv Initiates Negotiations On Deploying Foreign Military In Ukraine

The matter concerns a contingent of 40-50 thousand people.

Kyiv has begun to discuss with its allies the deployment of a foreign military contingent in the country as a security guarantee, said the official representative of the foreign Ministry of Ukraine Georgiy Tykhiy. He said the talks were ‘at a very early stage’ and it was too early to talk about the exact number of peacekeepers who might arrive in Ukraine to protect the country from repeated Russian aggression.

‘We believe that long-term and reliable security guarantees for Ukraine must include both Europe and the United States. This is the only way we can guarantee that this peace will be sustainable and long-lasting,‘ Tykhiy said (quoted by Reuters).’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously said that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed to ensure the country's security after the end of hostilities. ‘This is the minimum, otherwise nothing will happen,’ the Ukrainian president emphasised.

Later, participants in consultations between Kyiv and its Western partners told the Financial Times that the Ukrainian authorities expect the West to deploy between 40,000 and 50,000 foreign military personnel along the 1,000-kilometre front line. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), US President Donald Trump has shown interest in bringing peacekeepers to Ukraine, but he has ruled out the involvement of the US army. In his opinion, the main role in defending and supporting Ukraine should belong to Europe. At the same time, Zelensky stressed that the US military should be part of the peacekeeping contingent to be deployed in the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron first suggested sending Western military personnel to Ukraine in February last year. After that, European countries started discussing the possibility of such a step in the event of a halt in hostilities to monitor compliance with the ceasefire regime. Later, it became known that EU countries were holding specific talks on sending a military contingent to Ukraine in case of a cessation or freezing of the war with Russia. Reuters' sources said that the minimum number of such a mission could be 40,000 soldiers, and it would be based on contingents from five to eight countries, including Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Poland. At the same time, European security services believe that 100,000 troops will be needed to protect Ukraine from a repeat of Russian aggression.

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