Europe will be able to provide up to 25,000 peacekeepers for Ukraine.

According to the AP, a coalition of European countries is secretly developing a plan to deploy troops in Ukraine to ensure security guarantees following a peace agreement with Russia. The main contributors to this effort are France and the UK. The parties are withholding details to keep Russian dictator Putin at a disadvantage. The composition and role of the peacekeeping force, along with its numbers and deployment location, will be dictated by the terms of the peace agreement.

Meanwhile, European officials believe that the continent’s nations can provide no more than 25,000 soldiers for a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. However, this number will fall short of what is needed to conduct operations, as at least 120,000 personnel are required for effective task execution.

President Zelenskyy believes that at least 200,000 peacekeepers will be necessary to avert a future Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The peacekeepers’ mandate is also subject to debate. The EU contends that this mission will be ineffective unless these troops are granted the authority to use heavy weapons when necessary.