Politico reported that on February 17, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his disappointment with the debate on deploying peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after the conflict ended in the context of Western countries preparing to implement this plan.
After leaving an important meeting with European leaders, Mr. Scholz said this was an absolutely unsuitable time to discuss sending troops to Ukraine while peace negotiations were about to take place.
The German Chancellor is the first leader to leave an urgent meeting of European countries to promote plans to support Ukraine and seek consensus on the possibility of military deployment. The meeting took place on February 17 in Paris, summoned by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Speaking to reporters at the German Embassy in Paris, Mr. Scholz said: "We welcome discussions to build a peace plan, but one thing is certain: That does not mean Ukraine has to accept everything that is being offered."
According to Europe's plan, peacekeeping forces will be around 25,000 to 30,000 people to increase deterrence in the region and be ready to respond once Russia re-ignits the conflict.
Mr Macron was the first to propose and expected to mobilize about 10,000 soldiers. On 16 February, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also announced his readiness to deploy troops to Ukraine when the conflict ends.
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk - one of the members of the emergency meeting in Paris - said he would not send troops to Ukraine but would only provide logistical support.
However, Mr. Scholz still approved the plan to loosen EU budget rules to allow countries to increase military spending, proposed at the Munich Security Conference last week.
According to the proposal, countries will be allowed to excluding defense spending from EU regulations, which requires keeping it below 3% of GDP.
