Two states – France and the United Kingdom – are ready to send their troops to Ukraine “as part of supervising a ceasefire.” It would be sufficient – as reported by Die Welt – to receive “an invitation from Kyiv.”
Citing diplomatic sources in Brussels, Die Welt reports that as part of a “coalition of the willing,” “Europeans are ready to take part in monitoring a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.” “Plans for what security guarantees for Ukraine could look like are already fully developed. They were prepared mainly by military experts from the armed forces of the United Kingdom and France in cooperation with Brussels,” the daily quotes one source as saying.
According to Die Welt, France and the United Kingdom are ready to send troops to Ukraine to enforce compliance with peace arrangements. The size of the contingent in the first six months is expected to reach 10-15 thousand soldiers. Both countries would be prepared to act even without a mandate from the United Nations (ONZ) or the European Union. An invitation from Ukraine would be sufficient.
As Die Welt further reports, supervision of the ceasefire from the air and sea is to be ensured from the territory of countries neighboring Ukraine. In this context, however, no specific countries were named. In the plans for monitoring the ceasefire, an important role is also played by Turkey, which could monitor the Black Sea region.
Die Welt also reports that on the fourth anniversary of the Kremlin’s launch of its full-scale aggression against Ukraine, EU states plan to adopt a 20th package of sanctions against Russia. It is to include, among other things, the imposition of travel restrictions and asset freezes on individuals and organizations, especially those responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children.
In addition – according to information from the German daily – further sanctions are to be imposed on Russia’s energy and banking sectors. In Brussels, consideration is also being given to introducing a ban on imports of Russian uranium, which would mean placing sanctions on the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom.