New Delhi: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday announced that Ukraine will hold comprehensive talks on Friday with a small group of foreign countries where they would discuss the contributing forces to a contingent that would serve as a security guarantee for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, while having a news conference with Germany’s foreign minister, said that he is expecting “more concrete” responses from Ukraine’s allies about their willingness to join the force, which is facing strong opposition from Russia.
“As far as the matter of a contingent goes, we will have a meeting on Friday. It will be a meeting of our military teams, several countries, a narrow circle of countries that will be ready to deploy a contingent in one form or another,” Zelenskyy said. He added that the component will comprise both land and air components and a presence at sea.
Last week, the US mediated talks between the two countries to stop the strikes against each other. US President Donald Trump stated that he wants to bring an end to the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The European allies of Ukraine have shown their readiness to contribute troops to the country’s military. This is though to provide security guarantees to Ukraine under a ceasefire and also bolster the country’s defence capabilities.
Talking about the Friday meeting, Zelenskyy said, “This will be the first in-depth meeting…(before this) there were consultations. I think we will see some clarifications and some details.” He emphasised that the discussion would not only be about the contingent but would also determine the future outlook of the Ukrainian army.
