Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is seeking a meeting with US President Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that a contingent of at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed as part of any settlement to end the war with Russia.
The Ukrainian leader, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland a day after Trump returned to power following months of promises to end the war in Ukraine quickly, also urged European leaders to do more to defend the continent.
The prospect of a rapid settlement has focused minds in Kyiv and Europe on the urgent need for security guarantees to prevent any future Russian attack, with the idea of peacekeeping contingent force circulating.
"From all the Europeans? 200,000, it's a minimum. It's a minimum, otherwise it's nothing," Zelenskiy said when asked about the idea of a peacekeeping mission on an interview panel after delivering his speech.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was working to set up a meeting between him and Trump.
"The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process," Zelenskiy said about those efforts.
Trump, who returned to office on Monday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly, without saying how.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its armed forces to a fifth of their size.
"This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen," Zelenskiy said.
In his speech, Zelenskiy said Europe must make itself a strong global player, able to guarantee peace and security for itself and for others. He suggested Europe had less influence over Washington because the United States viewed its allies' contribution to security as lacking.
"Does anyone in the United States worry that Europe might abandon them someday – might stop being their ally? The answer is no," Zelenskiy said.
He said that Europeans needed to devise a united security and defense policy and alluded to a pre-inauguration remark by Trump, who proposed a massive hike in defense spending for NATO members to 5% of GDP.
"If it takes 5% of GDP to cover defense, then so be it, 5% it is. And there is no need to play with people's emotions that defense should be compensated at the expense of medicine or pensions – that's not fair," Zelenskiy said.
