London - Saba:
The Chief of the British Defense Staff, Tony Radakin, and his French and Ukrainian counterparts discussed in Kyiv the possibility of deploying peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
The British Foreign Office said in a statement: "As part of the UK's pioneering efforts to build a coalition of the willing to ensure lasting peace in Ukraine, Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin met with his Ukrainian and French counterparts in Kyiv."
"The chiefs of staff discussed the structure, size, and composition of any future reassurance force in Ukraine," the statement added.
The statement did not mention the names of the French and Ukrainian representatives who participated in the meeting with Radakin.
Following the Paris summit of the "Coalition of the Willing," on March 27, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that several representatives of the coalition were planning to send "deterrent forces" to Ukraine.
The French president emphasized that "this Franco-British initiative will not replace Ukrainian forces, and the 'deterrent forces' will not be peacekeeping forces. Their goal is to contain Russia, and they will be deployed in strategic locations previously identified with the Ukrainians."
Macron noted that the initiative has not received universal approval, but that this is not necessary for its implementation.
On March 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Russia sees no room for compromise on the issue of deploying foreign "peacekeeping" forces in Ukraine.
As the Russian minister explained, if a foreign force is deployed in Ukraine, Western countries will be unwilling to agree to the terms of a peace settlement, as such a force would create "faits quo on the ground."
The Russian Foreign Ministry previously stated that plans by some European Union countries to send "peacekeeping forces" to Ukraine are a provocative move aimed at fostering false illusions among the authorities in Kyiv.
Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) previously confirmed that the West's announcement that it would deploy a so-called "peacekeeping force" of approximately 100,000 personnel to the country to restore Ukraine's combat capability amounts to a de facto occupation of Ukraine.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the deployment of "peacekeeping" forces is only possible with the consent of the parties to the conflict. According to him, it is premature to talk about "peacekeeping" forces in Ukraine.
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