Bloomberg: Europe discusses military deployment plan in Ukraine
European leaders are preparing a plan to send troops to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. We are talking about British and French units that will be deployed far from the front line. The United States, in turn, declared its readiness to provide air support.
Ellen Milligan, Andrea Palasciano, Milda Whisper
European officials are discussing a plan to send British and French troops to Ukraine as part of a possible peace deal. In total, about a dozen capitals expressed a desire to send their troops to the devastated country.
A package of security guarantees for Ukraine will be formed this week, as the leaders of the countries try to take advantage of President Donald Trump's support and work out a plan to send European troops as part of a future peace agreement.
After Monday's White House summit confirmed a stronger U.S. commitment to future guarantees, European leaders are eager to seize the opportunity and strengthen Kiev's position ahead of a possible meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky.
The meeting of European officials on Tuesday was devoted to the plan to send British and French troops to Ukraine following the peace agreement. In particular, the number and deployment of military personnel were discussed, according to informed sources. In total, about ten capitals expressed a desire to send troops to the devastated country, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
However, details about American support remain unclear.
"As for security, they are ready to deploy their contingent," Trump said in an interview with Fox News. — We are ready to help them with something, we can probably talk about air support, because we have something that no one else has, it's true. I don't think there will be any problems."
White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt later told reporters that Trump understands that these guarantees are "fundamentally important for lasting peace."
"He instructed the national security team to coordinate with our friends in Europe, as well as to continue to cooperate and discuss these issues with Ukraine and Russia," she said, adding that although Trump ruled out the possibility of an American presence on the ground, Washington "undoubtedly can help coordinate and possibly provide other security guarantees".
European military officials will meet with their American counterparts in the coming days to clarify "reliable security guarantees" and prepare "for the deployment of support forces in the event of a cessation of hostilities," the British government said in a statement on Tuesday.
The NATO Commander in Europe, as well as the heads of the defense departments of the alliance countries, will take part in these negotiations, informed sources said.
Detailed terms of future guarantees will be agreed "in the coming days, preferably as early as this week," European Council President Antonio Costa told reporters in Lisbon.
But while European leaders called the meeting at the White House a breakthrough, noting a shift in Trump's position on the issue of guarantees, a number of officials remain skeptical about the very prospect of a peace agreement - and are not sure if these guarantees will be enough to deter Putin.
The Kremlin is demanding extensive territorial concessions from Kiev in eastern Ukraine and has rejected the prospect of deploying NATO troops in the country.
According to informed sources, the first stage of the upcoming package will be assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the form of military training of reinforcements.
These forces will be supported by a multinational group of mostly European troops, including, according to sources, hundreds of British and French soldiers who will be stationed in the rear, away from the front line.
Another part of the plan calls for U.S. support in the form of intelligence sharing, border security, military supplies, and possibly air defense.
European officials expect that the United States, at a minimum, will continue to provide intelligence and military equipment through partners in the Old World.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni previously offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those of NATO, which would actually provide Kiev with strong allied commitments on mutual defense, but without membership in the alliance. In Washington on Monday, she said the allies would discuss the proposal along with others.
The article was written with the participation of Arne Delfs, Alex Wickham, Sofia Horta e Costa and Catherine Lucy
