Fewer troops would amount to “nothing,” Kiev’s leader has reportedly said
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelenskyi attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on January 21, 2025. © Halil Sagirkaya / Anadolu via Getty Images Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has reportedly urged European nations to deploy at least 200,000 troops in his country to enforce a potential ceasefire agreement with Russia. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, he said a lower number of foreign “peacekeepers” would amount to “nothing,” according to Reuters. The remark came after Zelensky’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Previously, several media outlets claimed the UK and France were considering sending troops to Ukraine, in the event that the hostilities are suspended. Zelensky’s attendance at the gathering of international business and political elites coincided with the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the US. Trump’s administration has already paused all foreign aid programs pending review, and has pledged to ensure a swift resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Read more In public remarks on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader urged Western leaders to double down on supplying Kiev with weapons and financial support, warning that if they fail to do so they could face a Russian attack on NATO in the foreseeable future. Russian President Vladimir Putin would field a military force of some 2 million against the West, Zelensky said, offering no evidence for his assertion. ”Unless we have strong security guarantees, be it NATO [membership], or a military contingent and long-range weapons deployed on the Ukrainian territory, Putin will certainly return with an army ten times larger that the force he had in early 2022,” he claimed. Zelensky estimated the number of Russian troops involved in the Ukraine conflict at 200,000 in February 2022, compared to 608,000 at present. Ukraine has consistently portrayed its army as a bulwark protecting Europe from Russia. Zelensky and other senior figures in Kiev have argued that Western powers are obliged to provide foreign aid, as Ukrainian soldiers are dying in place of Western troops. READ MORE: Lex Fridman disappointed Zelensky only had ‘crude words’ for Putin Moscow has characterized the hostilities as a Western proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians are being used as ‘cannon fodder’. Russian officials contend that Washington pushed the tensions to boiling point while ignoring Russian security concerns stemming from NATO’s expansion in Europe, and increasing cooperation with Ukraine. Addressing these issues, Moscow insists, is an essential step towards a lasting resolution to the crisis.
