European Leader Holds Meeting On Ukraine Today, Discusses Placement Of Peace Forces?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday it was likely that the deployment of foreign peacekeeping forces in Ukraine could be submitted at a meeting of European leaders in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday.

Leaders from a number of European countries, such as Germany, France, Poland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will hold a meeting to discuss support for Ukraine, nearly three years after Russia's full-scale invasion, according to a source.

French President Emmanuel Macron became the first to name the troops in February.

However, European leaders failed to reach a consensus on President Macron's ideas.

Then, President Zelensky publicly threw ideas about deploying foreign troops until Ukraine could join NATO during a meeting with a German politician on December 9.

Asked about the possibility of discussing this in today's meeting, President Zelensky said, "any person who will attend has the right to raise this issue or that".

"There may be questions not only about the (assing) contingent, but also questions Ukraine will ask," he said at a joint news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at Lviv.

Kyiv's leader said the urgent strengthening of Ukraine would be the main subject discussed. He mentioned the long-range defense capabilities, allied investments in Ukraine's weapons production, and security guarantees among other topics.

The meeting took place at a crucial point as Ukraine urged its allies to support it, both on the battlefield and diplomatically before potential talks with Russia.

Separately, US President-elect Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, saying President Zelensky should be ready to make a deal to end the war.

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Meanwhile, PM Tusk reiterated Poland was not considering sending troops but said its country, one of Ukraine's most loyal supporters, would do everything in its power to make NATO Kyiv membership a real possibility.

"We all need to focus on ensuring that any talk of a ceasefire is not carried out from a strong position on the part of Russia, meaning that Ukraine can rest assured of the full support of all countries involved in helping Ukraine," said PM Tusk.