Macron, Tusk discuss idea of foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine

AFP | Warsaw

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Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday said he discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron the possibility of stationing foreign troops in Ukraine in case of a ceasefire, but that Warsaw was not currently “planning any such actions”.

Macron for his part called for a path out of Russia’s war in Ukraine -- which has been raging for nearly three years -- that takes into account the interests of both Kyiv and the European Union, saying the former’s sovereignty and the latter’s security were at stake.

Macron’s visit to Warsaw came days after he met in Paris with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President-elect Donald Trump, who has said that solving the Ukraine crisis would be his top priority when he takes office next month.

Trump’s election has raised fears in Kyiv that he could try to force big concessions on Ukraine in return for a ceasefire.

Tusk said he wanted to “take this opportunity to end speculation about the potential presence of troops from one country or another in Ukraine once a ceasefire or peace has been agreed”.

“The (French) president knows this, we discussed it, any decision on Polish actions will be taken in Warsaw and only in Warsaw. For the moment, we are not planning any such actions,” he added.

Macron did not mention the possibility of foreign peacekeepers in his statement to journalists in Warsaw.