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EU warns that tens of thousands of European troops are needed for Ukraine, major countries should send 10,000 soldiers each
2025-08-21 22:51:32 / BOTA
NATO's European leaders should not be naive when discussing a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, but face the reality that they will have to deploy tens of thousands of troops in the country for the long term, the head of Germany's soldiers' union said.
US President Donald Trump is seeking to broker peace between Moscow and Kiev, but has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both spoken in favor of deploying troops in a post-war settlement as part of a coalition of the willing, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also signaling openness to German participation.
Colonel Andre Westner, head of the German Armed Forces Association, called on European leaders on Thursday not to underestimate the military task but to be honest about the challenges, even though any quick ceasefire seemed unlikely.
"It's not going to be enough to have a handful of generals and smaller military units running a command post in Ukraine," Westner, whose organization represents more than 200,000 active and retired soldiers, told Reuters.
"From the beginning, it must be made clear to Putin — and with the support of international forces — that we are completely serious about security guarantees," he said.
"Serious in supporting Ukraine, serious in securing a ceasefire, and serious in our response if Putin tries to attack another Ukraine."
He estimated that each of the major countries in the coalition of the willing, such as Britain, France and Germany, would need to deploy at least 10,000 troops to Ukraine in the long term, presenting a major challenge to their already stretched and ill-equipped forces.
"The Europeans remain military 'dwarfs' and are already struggling to fulfill the new NATO commitments they made at the last summit," Westner said.
"Europe is still a long way from being able to defend itself independently."
Therefore, there is an urgent need to finally accelerate the armament and strengthening of NATO's European pillar.
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