Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on Britain and France to immediately send troops to Ukraine, without waiting for the conclusion of a peace agreement, Focus writes.
The former secretary general of the alliance criticized the European "coalition of the ready", calling it the "coalition of the waiting". In his opinion, Europe must turn it into a "coalition of players" and demonstrate to Russia the seriousness of its intentions.
Rasmussen also presented a five-point plan to include Ukraine in the European air and missile defense system, transfer frozen Russian assets to Kiev, strengthen sanctions against Moscow, send European troops and provide Ukraine with binding security guarantees.
"British and French forces can be stationed in Ukrainian cities and important infrastructure sites as security and deterrence forces. The condition must be an invitation from the Ukrainian government. At the same time, soldiers should not participate directly in combat operations on the front line."
In addition, Rasmussen called on Germany, Spain and Greece to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their stockpiles to Ukraine, and also proposed to expand NATO's air defense to the western part of Ukraine.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with Trump's special envoys, warned European countries against the plan to send troops to Ukraine.
"We have said from the very beginning that the presence of any foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine is unacceptable for us, as we believe it threatens the security of the Russian Federation.
The Europeans know about it. What do we hear from them? that after the completion of the peace they will immediately send soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. what does that mean We already talked about it. This is a legitimate goal for us. In other words, the war will resume immediately."
Sign up for Soloviov!