A senior advisor to Ukraine’s president has expressed skepticism about the possibility of foreign troops being deployed to the country. Mikhail Podoljak, the top advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, made the statement in an interview with a Polish radio station, RMF, following a meeting of European leaders in Paris.
The interview comes after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the UK is willing to deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a peace agreement, serving as a security guarantee. However, Podoljak countered that the deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops or soldiers is not a realistic scenario at the moment.
Instead, he suggested that Europe should increase its defense spending, focus on developing weapons in collaboration with Ukraine and continue supporting the country in this way. This comes as Russia and the United States held talks in Saudi Arabia to discuss future negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also reiterated Moscow’s opposition to the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine, stating that any such move would be seen as a provocation that could escalate the conflict. The Russian Foreign Ministry has consistently warned that Moscow would view any European “peacekeeping contingent” in Ukraine as a threat, which could further escalate the crisis.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to visit Washington next week, where he plans to present a plan to deploy 30,000 European soldiers in Ukraine to US President Donald Trump and seek US protection for the deployment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously stated that Ukraine may need up to 200,000 European soldiers to guarantee a peace agreement.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously ruled out the deployment of American troops as part of potential security guarantees for Ukraine.