President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security as part of an effort to end the almost three-year war with Russia.
“A troop contingent from one country or another could be present in Ukraine for as long as it isn’t part of NATO. But for that we need to have a clear understanding of when Ukraine becomes an EU member and when a NATO member,” Mr Zelensky said speaking alongside German opposition leader Friedrich Merz in Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky stressed that even with an invitation to the NATO military alliance, long-term protection would still be uncertain in the face of future Russian aggression.
“Even if we get invited (to NATO), what happens then? Who guarantees our security? We can think about that and work on (French president) Emmanuel Macron’s proposal,” Mr Zelensky said, referring to president Macron’s controversial idea of sending European troops to Ukraine.
In the same breath Mr Merz condemned chancellor Olaf Scholz’s refusal to send Kyiv long-range missiles as akin to making the country fight with one arm tied behind its back.
Mr Scholz has argued that deploying Germany’s Taurus missile could be seen as Germany joining the war.
Military experts believe the Taurus cruise missile, with its bunker-busting warhead, could be instrumental in destroying targets like the Kersh bridge that links Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, with Russia’s mainland.
“We want your army to be capable of hitting military bases in Russia. Not the civilian population, not infrastructure, but the military targets from which your country is being attacked,” conservative frontrunner Mr Merz told Mr Zelensky.
Mr Merz added that a strong Ukraine is essential for bringing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
Echoing Mr Merz, president Zelensky said “Putin doesn’t want to end this war. He must be forced to… And he can only be forced if Ukraine is strong.”
Germany is the second largest provider of financial and military support to Ukraine after the United States and hosts more Ukrainian war refugees - over a million - than any other country.
With questions over Ukraine’s ability to host refugees and a flagging economy, the government is under pressure from populist parties questioning continued support for Kyiv.
Mr Scholz, increasingly positioning himself as a peace candidate, has warned against what he calls Mr Merz’s willingness to escalate tensions with a nuclear-armed Russia.
The discussion on military support comes as Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House intensifies talk of a possible deal to end Russia’s 33-month-old war.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters he was hoping to call outgoing US president Joe Biden in the coming days to discuss NATO membership but dimissed the need to discuss with Mr Trump before he takes office.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine abandon its NATO ambitions and sees Kyiv’s membership of the alliance as an unacceptable security threat.
