Ukraine, France, UK officials meet in Kyiv to discuss military contingent deployment

Suspilne reported the information, citing a source in diplomatic circles.

According to the source, the meeting will take place at the level of military chiefs of staff.

"The French delegation is led by General Burkhard, while the British side is represented by Admiral Radakin. Throughout the day, they will hold several meetings with Ukrainian military officials," the report states.

The outlet also reported that a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled for today.

Peacekeeping forces in Ukraine

At the end of January, 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 among the peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, there should be U.S. military personnel.                  

On February 11, the NYT reported that there are no 200,000 peacekeepers in Europe who could be sent to Ukraine. This is almost three times the size of the entire British army. On the same day, Zelenskyy said that the mission would work if 100,000 to 150,000 European troops were deployed.

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 forces in Ukraine but noted that the U.S. would not participate.

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

The Rheinmetall concern is ready to offer its products to support an international peacekeeping mission after the full-scale war in Ukraine ends.

On March 16, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, stated that the Kremlin would consider the deployment of Western peacekeepers to Ukraine as a declaration of war with NATO.

On March 21, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated that his country could send peacekeepers to Ukraine only under the United Nations flag. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that a UN peacekeeping mission cannot be an alternative to a military contingent or security guarantees.

On March 28, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a meeting of representatives of the general staffs of countries ready to send military contingents to Ukraine will take place in the near future.