President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that Ukraine is concrete rather than simply “on paper” when discussing the prospects of European peacekeeping forces being deployed to Ukraine as part of a negotiated settlement with Russia. He said he was there.
“We want security guarantees on ground, on water, on air, on air defense, on planes and ships, not on paper,” Zelensky said Wednesday at a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
Zelensky urged Europe on Saturday to unite and create a unified army and foreign policy, warning that the day guaranteed US support for the continent is over.
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses said Ukraine’s NATO membership was not a realistic result of a negotiated settlement with Russia.
On Monday, Zelensky suggested that security assurances like NATO could still be created in Ukraine.
“If we don’t have NATO, like I said, figuratively, NATO should be built in Ukraine,” he said, “million strong” European troops was asked to be deployed to.
European leaders on Monday to discuss a coordinated response to US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia and a coordinated response to Washington’s signal that European security is no longer a priority for the US. We are meeting in Paris.
Before the meeting, British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said he was “pleased to be ready” to place British troops on the ground in Ukraine to enforce peace agreements if necessary.
Zelensky also said French President Emmanuel Macron told him that if these talks conclude “in the coming days,” Paris would provide further details on the potential conditions for European military.
