‘Coalition of the Willing’ Nations to Meet Weekly to Discuss Troops to Ukraine – Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the UK-led “Coalition of the Willing” group on troop deployments to Ukraine will have regular meetings in the coming weeks to work out the details.
A British and French delegation visited Kyiv on Friday, April 5, and met with senior Ukrainian officials to continue talks on sending a European peacekeeping force in the first meeting of its kind in Ukraine.
Zelensky, speaking to journalists on Friday after the meeting, said the mission format might be finalized “in about a month,” where the discussions encompass troop presence “on the ground, in the air, and at sea.”
“We are discussing presence on the ground, in the air, and at sea, as well as air defense. And some other delicate matters. We will meet weekly, and I think we will meet every week at the level of our [top] military personnel. Where, in which locations – this is discussed separately,” Zelensky said, according to local news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
Zelensky hinted at a basic consensus on the deployment but said there are “sensitive geographical issues” that require support.
Zelensky added that the Ukrainian side was represented by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky, Chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa and Deputy Defense Minister Yevhen Moisiuk.
Britain and France have been championing the initiative to send a European peacekeeping mission to Ukraine, an idea that Moscow has vocally opposed.
Multiple European nations, such as Ireland, Denmark and Czechia, have voiced their support for the idea.
The next “Coalition of the Willing” meeting between the nations’ defense ministers is set to take place in Brussels on April 10.
Source: Leo Chiu