Less than expected: how many troops France and the UK are ready to deploy in Ukraine
Фото: Reuters
After reaching a peace agreement, the United Kingdom and France are ready to send up to 15,000 troops to Ukraine as part of a multinational force deployment.
This is stated in the material of The Times, quoted by “European Truth”.
This number is significantly lower than previously expected. The UK initially proposed deploying around 10,000 of its soldiers to Ukraine as part of a “coalition of the willing” of 64,000 people. However, the Ministry of Defence deemed this impossible.
Military sources say Britain will deploy fewer than 7,500 troops, a number that is still large for the British regular army, which has about 71,000 trained personnel.
In return, France has also committed to deploying a contingent on Ukrainian territory. Initially, French troops will make up the rest of the deployment. They will be stationed in the western part of the country, far from the front.
Macron stated that several thousand soldiers from France would likely be deployed as a “reassuring force,” and would not participate in combat operations.
According to a military source, Germany has agreed to station troops near Ukraine — in one of the neighboring countries, possibly Romania or Poland.
A diplomatic source suggested that the number of peacekeepers could still change. The number will depend on the results of the peace talks.
In general, France and the United Kingdom are expected to help train the Ukrainian military, as well as oversee the construction of fortified facilities to store weapons and military equipment that could be used in the event of a second attack.
As a reminder, officials from some European countries hope to deploy up to 30,000 peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of the deployment of a foreign contingent after the ceasefire.
It is worth noting that the Ukrainian and French presidents and the British Prime Minister signed a declaration of intent regarding the future deployment of multinational forces in Ukraine.
Earlier, the UK Defense Secretary John Healy said that his country is ready to send its military personnel to Ukraine , but only after peace is achieved. The country has already identified military units that it can send to Ukraine , and is ready to quickly transfer them after a possible peace agreement is reached.
As is known, France, Germany, and Turkey have declared their readiness to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine after the end of the war.
By the way, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the United States is ready to deploy its military in Ukraine after peace is achieved.
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