Turkey may deploy its peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, Bloomberg writes, citing sources.
According to the publication, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the issue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during separate meetings with them in Ankara in early February.
Sources say that Turkey will not participate in any peacekeeping mission unless it is involved in all consultations and preparations for its formation. A ceasefire is also far from guaranteed. At the same time, Russia has not given Turkey an answer to the question about sending troops. The publication does not write about Zelenskyʼs position.
Turkey supports Ukraineʼs sovereignty and territorial integrity, a Ukrainian official familiar with the talks said. He said Ankara supports peace and security guarantees that are credible. President Erdogan has recently stepped up rhetoric about Turkeyʼs military might and potential to strengthen European security.
Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO after the United States, could facilitate the efforts of European allies who want to send their peacekeepers to Ukraine. Bloomberg mentions in this context France and Great Britain, which have officially spoken about the possibility of deploying troops in Ukraine.
Europeʼs participation in the settlement of the war in Ukraine
After the US President Donald Trump reported that during a phone call with Putin they agreed to immediately begin peace talks, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Poland, Germany, and the European Union stressed in a statement that Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The Axios publication, which revealed the details of the conversation between Zelensky and Trump, noted that the US president supported the idea of deploying European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine — this could become one of the security guarantees.
After that, the AP wrote that a group of European countries were privately working on a plan to send troops to Ukraine to help with post-war security.
The FT noted that the US has asked European countries to provide detailed proposals for the weapons, peacekeeping troops and security measures they could provide to Ukraine as part of any security guarantees.
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