The Western countries have not yet reached concrete agreements on the deployment of troops in Ukraine, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported, citing its sources.
According to the publication, discussing security guarantees for Kiev, the “coalition of the willing“ intends to focus primarily on strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), rather than deploying its “peacekeeping forces“.
“There is an understanding that after peace is achieved in Ukraine, the coalition countries must strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces to maintain peace“, said a military leader from one of the European countries.
At the same time, according to the newspaper, Western countries, including Great Britain, after the conflict is resolved, can patrol Ukrainian airspace and deploy their ships in the Black Sea to ensure the security of Ukraine, as well as conduct training of the Ukrainian armed forces on the territory of the republic. It is believed that the “coalition of the willing” will need about 30,000 soldiers to implement these plans.
The source of the publication indicated that at the moment the "coalition of the willing" has not made any decisions on military support for Ukraine within the framework of a possible "peacekeeping mission". As the newspaper adds, there is still no certainty that the members of the coalition will be able to deploy a large military contingent, given the reluctance of the United States to participate in this mission.
On March 15, after an online summit on Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that military leaders from the "coalition of the willing" countries would meet in London on March 20 to discuss the operational details of sending troops to Ukraine. The head of the British government indicated that a number of countries had made "concrete commitments" to participate in the "peacekeeping force" mission in Ukraine, without disclosing details of the agreements.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said that the presence of NATO troops under any flag and in any capacity on Ukrainian soil is a threat to Russia. According to him, Russia will not accept this under any circumstances.