A meeting with delegations from the UK and France is currently taking place in Kyiv to discuss the deployment of a foreign contingent in Ukraine. This was reported to Suspilne by diplomatic sources.
According to the publication’s sources, the meetings will be held at the level of the chiefs of military staff. The French delegation is headed by General Thierry Burkhardt, while the British delegation is led by Admiral Antony Radakin.
Both delegations will hold talks with the Ukrainian military and then with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Earlier this week, the Ukrainian president announced that military representatives from partner countries would arrive on Friday to discuss the deployment of the contingent. This is a guarantee contingent that will be deployed to strategic locations, but not along the contact line. These troops are intended as a security guarantee following a ceasefire. In the event of renewed Russian aggression, they will be required to respond.
- The contingent is being actively discussed within the coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France. However, according to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, more than two countries are ready to send troops.
- Following talks with partners in March, Zelenskyy stated that the number of countries willing to help was growing. Some are ready to contribute troops, while others are prepared to provide air defence.
- The idea of sending foreign troops as peacekeepers has been raised before. Ukraine supports the idea of foreign peacekeepers, President Zelenskyy has said. At the Munich Security Conference, he mentioned that a plan had already been developed, detailing the number of peacekeepers and potential deployment locations. This could involve up to 220,000 personnel. Ukraine is prepared for peacekeepers to be exclusively its own citizens, but they would need to be armed with NATO weapons and supplied accordingly, as Ukraine cannot provide this on its own.
- Foreign peacekeepers could serve as one of the security guarantees once a peace agreement is reached, Zelenskyy explained. If the United States does not wish to send peacekeepers, it could assist with air defence — Ukraine needs up to 25 additional Patriot systems, he added. Initially, Ukraine insisted that no peacekeeping mission could proceed without US involvement. For more on this topic, see the article “British and French Peacekeepers and Security Assurances.”
- On 17 February, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer explicitly supported the idea of sending British troops to Ukraine as a security guarantee following a peace agreement. Former US President Donald Trump, when speaking about the potential deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine, stated that he had no objection. However, the US itself does not wish to send troops.
- The head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, remains sceptical about peacekeepers serving as a security guarantee.