The European Commission (EC) denied media reports today that it planned to deploy soldiers from European countries to Ukraine as part of a U.S. initiative to “freeze the war” in the region.
The British daily, The Telegraph, recently reported that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may request “European and British troops” to establish a 1,200-kilometer buffer zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces. According to the report, the plan does not involve deploying U.S. troops to patrol the buffer zone or providing U.S. financial support for the mission. However, the U.S. would supply Ukraine with weapons to deter any renewed aggression from Russia.
EC spokesman Peter Stano stated that, at this stage, there is no decision regarding the European Union sending soldiers to Ukraine in any capacity or under any mandate. He noted an EU training mission for Ukrainian soldiers, but training currently occurs within EU territory.
“There are ongoing discussions between member states whether we could transfer some of these activities to Ukraine, expanding the mission’s mandate,” he added, highlighting that there is no consensus among the member states.
