Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this Wednesday (18) that he had a new discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron about the French proposal to send troops to Ukraine.
“We share a common vision: reliable guarantees are essential for a peace that can actually be achieved,” Zelensky wrote in X.
“We continue to work on President Macron’s initiative regarding the presence of forces in Ukraine that could contribute to stabilizing the path to peace,” he added.
The Ukrainian president was in Brussels for meetings with the head of NATO and European leaders. He met with Macron for an informal meeting on the sidelines of the summit.
Zelensky had previously mentioned the possibility of discussing the deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine during his time in Brussels.
The issue was first raised by the French president in February, but no consensus has been reached among European leaders on the issue.
The meeting comes at a crucial time as Ukraine calls on its allies to strengthen support both on the battlefield and diplomatically ahead of any potential talks with Russia.
Zelensky’s meeting with NATO chief
The Ukrainian president spoke to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and other European leaders on Wednesday, seeking immediate help to bolster Kiev’s war effort and discuss long-term security guarantees.
Zelensky told reporters that the talks in Brussels and a discussion with the European Union’s 27 national leaders were “a great opportunity to talk about security guarantees for Ukraine today and tomorrow.”
While European leaders insist they are focusing on Ukraine’s immediate needs, some officials have begun discussing how to ensure the country’s security after the war stops, including the possibility of mobilizing European troops.
Wednesday’s talks took place with Ukraine on the defensive on the battlefield and uncertainty looming over future U.S. support, while President-elect Donald Trump is pushing for a quick end to the war and has called for an immediate ceasefire.
Rutte said the talks would focus on ensuring Ukraine is “in the best possible position” whenever it decides to enter peace talks, providing more air defense systems and other weapons to boost Kiev’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
Rutte and Zelensky were later joined by a group of other European leaders.
NATO did not say who would participate in these negotiations. But diplomats said they would include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish President Andrzej Duda, French and British foreign ministers and top EU officials Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa.
British troops
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called on European allies to “step up” their support for Ukraine to put the country in the “strongest possible position” for 2025.
Lammy was in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday to meet with Zelensky, the NATO secretary general and other European allies to discuss military and financial support as well as military training, he said.
Asked how Britain would respond if Zelensky called for British troops to be sent to Ukraine, Lammy told Sky News he saw no sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to negotiate.
“The discussion is about equipping Ukraine for the coming days. That is why we have come together at this very dark time to ensure that Ukraine gets through the winter and into 2025,” he said.
“I know there is a lot of speculation, but the truth is that Putin is not a man you can negotiate with when he is causing so much chaos on European soil right now,” he added. “It is to force that Vladimir Putin will respond.”
Moscow has intensified attacks on Ukrainian forces fighting to hold territory in Russia’s Kursk region and increased pressure on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s top army commander said on Tuesday.
As the war approaches its fourth year, Ukrainian troops are outnumbered along the 1,170km front line.
This content was originally published in Zelensky says he discussed the possible sending of troops to Ukraine with Macron on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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