Several Countries to Discuss in Kyiv Deployment of Troops in Ukraine
On 4 April, military representatives from a small group of countries that are considering deploying their contingents in Ukraine ‘in one form or another’ will meet in Kyiv.
This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on 1 April in Kyiv, Radio Liberty reports.
Zelenskyy noted that he expects Kyiv's allies to provide ‘some explanations, some details’ about their readiness to contribute to the creation of such forces, which Russia opposes.
‘A meeting will be held on Friday with representatives of partner states - these will be military representatives. The meeting is to discuss a common approach to the issue of contingents. We will work on the prepared proposals of the Ukrainian side, and we need a common approach for everyone in Europe, and therefore common decisions,’ he said in his evening address.
The President earlier clarified that the talks would involve France, the UK and Ukraine.
The day before, Zelenskyy said that following a conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the parties were preparing a meeting of ‘military representatives to prepare contingents.’
Starmer's office confirmed that a meeting between the British, French and Ukrainian military leadership would take place in the coming days.
In recent weeks, France and the United Kingdom have held a series of summits with European leaders in Paris and London, as well as organised meetings of the chiefs of defence staff of several countries to agree on possible security guarantees for Ukraine and discuss the future format of the foreign contingent.
After the Paris summit, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that such a contingent, which would become the second security element for Ukraine after the Armed Forces, would not perform peacekeeping functions.
As The Gaze reported, recently, during a meeting of leaders to support Ukraine in Paris, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on partner countries to create ‘one clear plan’ for the deployment of their peacekeeping forces in Ukraine and noted that now is not the time to lift sanctions against Russia.