Zelensky: 200,000 peacekeeping troops would be needed for ceasefire support

While American President Donald Trump is frequenting calls for a peace agreement in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented an idea for a European peacekeeping force with 200,000 troops.

Asked on January 22nd during a panel discussion on the number of a peacekeeping force to guarantee a ceasefire agreement with Russia in the future, Zelensky said: “From all Europeans? At least 200,000 [body]. This is the minimum, otherwise it's wasted”.

Zelensky, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said such a peacekeeping force would be only one of the parts of the overall security guarantees that Kiev would need, in the event ceasefire talks with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.

Earlier, Zelensky told Bloomberg News that to be effective a peacekeeping force, part of it must be American troops.

“cannot be without the United States”, he told Bloomberg.

“First, no one will risk it without the United States. Second, this can divide NATO, divide the United States and the European Union. It is Putin's dream to divide this coalition”, he added.

A 200,000-strong peacekeeping force would be an unprecedented effort for Europe, far greater than the individual forces of most nations. The NATO-led international mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina peaked in 1996 with 60,000 troops, about a third of them from the United States.

Zelensky said such a large international force would be necessary, given that Russia's Army personnel exceed 1.5 million, while Ukraine has only half that number.

The deployment of a foreign military force in Ukraine is being discussed with countries that may be willing to participate, Zelensky said during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on January 16th.

British press also reported that Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have talked about the possibility of sending soldiers to Ukraine as a peacekeeping force after reaching an agreement to end the war.

In recent days, Trump has made the harshest comments to Putin, often spoken in admiration.

On January 22nd, Trump, addressing his prominent Russian counterpart, warned Moscow that he would face new tariffs, taxes and sanctions “higher” if he did not quickly stop the total invasion of Ukraine.

A day earlier, he suggested he would impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin would not accept peace talks to end the war.

And on January 20th, on the first day after receiving the new mandate, Trump said Putin was destroying “” Russia refusing to make an agreement to end the war.

He has to make a deal. I think it's destroying Russia by not making a” deal, Trump said.

Russia has spilled hundreds of billions of dollars for the war, suffered about 700,000 casualties and angered its neighbours, until it has also sacrificed the lucrative European gas market and access to Western financial markets, which have led to the decline in its value of ruble.

The Kremlin is spending about 40 percent of its military budget, and it is struggling to curb inflation despite interest rates of over 20 percent.

The war in Ukraine began in 2014 with the illegal invasion and annexation of the Kremlin Crime Peninsula and escalated into its full invasion by Russia in February 2022. / REL/