Peacekeeping forces deployment discussions move forward, countries express support — Ukraine’s MFA

This was stated by the spokesperson of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Heorhiy Tykhyi, at a briefing on March 21.

According to the spokesperson, the discussion regarding the potential deployment of contingents is now focused on working out the implementation details, rather than just evaluating the possibility. The issue is being discussed at the level of chiefs of general staff, including the number of troops, their locations, and the format of their participation.

"We indeed see a large number of countries declaring their readiness to participate in this. We already have a list of countries that have expressed their readiness, even officially sending signals about their readiness to participate in such a coalition, in military contingents. I cannot name these specific countries yet, it is just too early, but I think you will see this list soon," Tykhyi said.

For the practical implementation of this step, further progress in the peace process is needed, the spokesperson added.

Peacekeeping forces in Ukraine

At the end of January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed to secure Ukraine after the cessation of hostilities. Later, the president clarified that the peacekeeping forces in Ukraine should include U.S. military personnel.

On February 11, the New York Times reported that Europe did not have 200,000 peacekeepers available to send to Ukraine, which is nearly three times the size of the entire British Army. On the same day, Zelenskyy stated that the mission would be operational with the deployment of 100,000-150,000 European troops.

According to AP, a group of European countries is secretly developing a plan to send troops to Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump supported the deployment of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine but stated that the U.S. would not participate.

According to the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European countries are currently discussing the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine, but not the number of troops.

Meanwhile, the Finnish government rejected the possibility of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. Finland's Prime Minister stated that Finland cannot do this as it shares a border with Russia.

At the same time, German company Rheinmetall announced its readiness to arm peacekeepers in Ukraine.

On March 16, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, stated that the Kremlin would consider the deployment of Western peacekeepers in Ukraine as a declaration of war against NATO.