Zelensky said that UN troops have never helped anyone

French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to deploy European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as part of security guarantees will work only if it is about 150,000 people and not from the UN peacekeeping forces, as they have helped almost no one in their history. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term expired in May 2024) in an interview with The Guardian.

"As for Emmanuel [Macron]'s idea, if it is part of the security guarantee, then yes, if there will be 100-150 thousand European troops, then yes. I'll be honest with you, I don't think UN troops or anything like that has ever really helped anyone in history. Today we cannot support this idea," Zelensky said.

The publication notes that Europe is still far from agreeing to deploy combat-ready troops to Ukraine, at a time when Zelensky says a softer peacekeeping mission is "unlikely to work."

Last December, Reuters reported that European leaders were discussing sending 100,000 military personnel to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire and the signing of a peace agreement.

Later, on January 15, The Telegraph newspaper reported that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron were considering sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. It was specified that the details of these talks are still being kept secret. According to the newspaper, Starmer has not yet made a final decision.

In addition, on January 24, it became known that European officials were seeking to get US President Donald Trump to send US peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to provide security guarantees for the eastern European country.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of the Russian Federation's special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 24 February 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.