NATO troops in Ukraine will prevent Putin's next invasion - opposition politician Feygin

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"How can the resumption of war be prevented? What is the value of signed agreements if they are broken the very next morning? A demilitarized zone should consist of European contingents—not American, but specifically European military forces. It’s said that up to 100,000 troops may be needed to cover the entire 1,300-kilometer front line, creating a demilitarized zone. And it seems Trump likes this idea. He indicated that such a zone, without American troops, would be acceptable. However, this is a major sticking point. Putin will never agree under any circumstances to the presence of NATO troops, which are essentially European armies, entering this demilitarized zone in tens of thousands and, obviously, staying there permanently. They will never leave, and Putin knows this well. This means he won’t be able to restart the war whenever he feels like it, once he achieves certain goals, consolidates them, re-prepares, and attacks again," said Feygin.  

The politician believes that Donald Trump is trying to push Europe to pay more attention to military needs and defense. However, Trump does not want to completely detach himself from European problems.  

"What does Trump ultimately want? He truly wants to shift security issues and challenges to Europe so that it manages its own security independently. On one hand, this seems like a sort of push—useful for Europe, which has become too complacent, cut military production, reduced its army, and moved away from universal conscription. At some point, transitioning to a professional military may have been an objective decision. But it significantly reduced the size of military contingents and so on. On the other hand, stimulating Europe to spend more—raising defense spending to 2%, even 3%, improving the efficiency of European armies to secure borders with Russia—is one thing. Completely withdrawing from these issues is another. Trump’s stance lies somewhere in the middle," he added.

• French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of deploying a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine for discussion at the December 18-19 EU leaders' summit.
• On December 18, European leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels to discuss peace plans and the potential deployment of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
• On December 20, the Financial Times reported that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump told European officials that he plans to continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine after his inauguration.