Zelenskyy named the number of peacekeepers Ukraine needs

At the Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claimed that Ukraine needs the intervention of international peacekeepers to prevent another Russian attack. But peacekeeping forces will be only part of the security guarantees that Ukraine needs.

Reuters reported it.

How many peacekeepers Ukraine needs

According to Zelenskyy, at least 200,000 European peacekeepers will be needed for security after any ceasefire agreement. He called on European leaders to do more to protect Ukraine and Europe itself.

"200,000 is the minimum. This is the minimum, otherwise, nothing will work," Zelenskyy told the agency’s journalists when asked about the idea of a peacekeeping contingent in an interview after the speech.

This number is roughly equal to the size of the entire Armed Forces of France, which, according to the Ministry of Defence of France, amounted to just over 200,000 people in 2020, Reuters reports.

Zelenskyy said that at least this number would be needed as a security guarantee if the Armed Forces of Russia were 1.5 million strong and Ukraine had only half that number.

The Ukrainian leader also claimed that Kyiv was working on organizing a meeting between him and Trump. Zelenskyy claimed that Ukraine would not agree to Russia’s demands to drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, would demand that Ukraine reduce its Armed Forces to a fifth.

"He wants it. We will not allow it," Zelenskyy said.

As we reported earlier, at the Davos Forum, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russian dictator Putin understands only the language of force, so he cannot be spoken to on equal terms.

As a reminder, MP Yelizaveta Yaska explained the benefits of the Davos Forum for Ukraine. According to her, the Ukrainian side can speak out about current problems and get an opportunity to gain even more support from partners.