Presence of foreign troops in Ukraine could become platform for European armed forces, - Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the presence of foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine could be the first step towards the creation of the European Armed Forces capable of responding to Russian threats.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.
"I believe that we have made great progress in the issue of the contingent (deployment of foreign military contingent - ed.). There are countries that are skeptical, but I see that the issue of the contingent, the issue of the European army as a whole can have such a first step... - when there is a Ukrainian army and the European Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
He noted that there is now a real opportunity to create such a platform with the participation of strong countries that are ready to ensure peace and stability in Europe, in particular on land, in the sky and on water. He emphasized, however, that participation in this initiative would be voluntary, and only those states that consider it necessary would join.
"We want security guarantees not on paper, but on land, on water, in the sky, air defense, airplanes, ships. And I am talking about this absolutely seriously," the President emphasized.
Zelenskyy also noted that the creation of the European Armed Forces would not diminish the importance of NATO, which remains an important security alliance for Ukraine. However, he emphasized that Europe must act now, and one way to do so is to create a European military structure based on the Ukrainian army as the largest army on the continent.
"Europe should find a way to create such a structure called the European Armed Forces or something else, the main thing is that there should be strong European armies present to defend the whole of Europe," he added.
As a reminder, during his speech at the Munich Security Conference, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Europe should have its own European army.
