The Times: Europe lacks the means and capacity to deploy 25,000 troops in Ukraine

Europe will find it difficult to assemble a collective force for "deterrence" in Ukraine due to problems with funding and equipment, the British edition The Times reports, citing its own sources.

"Europe will find it difficult to assemble a collective force of 25,000 soldiers to participate in a "deterrence" force in Ukraine, as its armies are understaffed and underfunded", the article states.

According to the publication, the Chief of Staff of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, has asked his European colleagues if they can prepare 64,000 soldiers to be sent to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement.

According to the source, defense ministers from across Europe have stated that there is no chance of this happening.

"If we can't even raise 64,000 people, this does not look like weakness - this is weakness", the source of the publication quotes the Lithuanian Minister of Defense Dovilė Šakalenė.

Earlier, the Telegraph newspaper, referring to a letter from the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom John Healy, which it has, reported that the British military, in the event of the deployment of “peacekeepers of the coalition of the willing” in Ukraine, would rather train the AFU than participate in combat operations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after the summit of the “coalition of the willing” in Paris on March 27 that a number of representatives of the coalition plan to send “deterrence forces” to Ukraine. At the same time, he said that the “deterrence forces” will not be peacekeepers, their goal will be to “deter” Russia and will be deployed in strategic locations previously determined with the Ukrainians. Macron noted that not everyone agrees with the initiative, but assured that this is not necessary for its implementation.