““200 thousand is the minimum. This is the minimum, otherwise it is nothing””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The Ukrainian leader said this while speaking at a meeting with representatives of the International Media Council as part of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“200 thousand is the minimum. This is the minimum, otherwise it is nothing,” Zelenskyi said.
According to the president, at least this number will be needed as a guarantee of security in the conditions, if the Russian armed forces will be 1.5 million people, and Ukraine will have only half of this number.
Zelensky noted that such forces will be only part of the security guarantees that Ukraine needs.
Earlier, the British press reported that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron began discussing the possibility of sending British and French soldiers to Ukraine as peacekeepers in the event that an agreement to end the Russian-Ukrainian war is reached.
Emmanuel Macron first spoke that European countries could send troops to Ukraine at the end of February 2024, but then this idea did not find support among the partner countries.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in Brussels last month without elaborating that he sees “positive developments” in the discussions regarding the possibility of deploying peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. And on January 13, he said that he spoke with his French colleague Emmanuel Macron and discussed the idea of placing “partner contingents” in Ukraine.
On January 16, Zelenskyi said that the placement of a foreign military contingent in Ukraine is being discussed with those countries that want or are able to do so, however, it is still too early to talk about details, in particular, regarding the number.
“We talked about it in sufficient detail with French President Emmanuel Macron. We are talking with Poland, we talked with our Baltic partners. We are discussing with Britain,” the president said.