Russia strikes Zaporijjia with missiles: a man killed, many damage and wounded, including a 2 month old infant. In an FT article, an intervention scenario of foreign troops in Ukraine is mentioned. Zelensky sets out the conditions of negotiations: Russia must at least return to the lines before the large -scale invasion.
Russia struck Zaporijjia with missiles: a man killed, many damage and wounded, including a infant
On the night of January 23, Russian troops launched four missile strikes on Zaporijjia, causing the death of a person. There are many damage and injured, including a two -month -old infant.
This is what Ivan Fedorov, head of military administration of the Zaporijjia region reported.
At 8:19 am, there were 25 injured, including a two -month -old boy, rescuers and employees in the energy sector who worked to repair the damage caused by the enemy attack on an energy infrastructure. A 47 -year -old man lost his life.
Police in the Zaporijjia region said the occupants had hit the city with four missiles between 4:00 and 4:10. One of the missiles affected an area close to a fire caused by a Russian drone of the “Shahed” type.
The attack caused a fire in an industrial building, and the shock wave as well as the bursts damaged residential buildings and vehicles, also destroying a two -story housing, according to the authorities.
“A residential building was destroyed, and thirty other damaged. Private buildings and non -residential buildings have also been affected in the districts of Chevtchenko and Oleksandrovskyi in Zaporijia, “said Fedorov, describing the consequences of the strikes.
Zelensky stated the conditions for negotiations: Russia must at least return to the lines before the large -scale invasion
President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the Russian forces must withdraw to the positions they occupied before the start of the large -scale invasion. According to him, this would constitute a fair base to start negotiations at the end of the war.
The president made this statement on Wednesday January 22 during an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum.
The Head of State insisted that Ukraine will do everything possible for negotiations with Russia to be fair.
“Just a negotiation is a guarantee that the enemy withdrew to the lines before the large -scale invasion. It would be an equitable opportunity to start a dialogue, but things can be different, life is done, “he said.
Zelensky also said that any peacekeeping force deployed in Ukraine should include American troops.
In addition, he insisted that Ukraine “will not engage on a paper document like the Memorandum of Budapest”.
“This document, like NATO, provided for the possibility of consultations in the event of a threat to sovereignty. We summoned them after the occupation of Crimea. Do you think someone came? No, “said Zelensky.
Up to 50,000 soldiers: the FT imagined what the deployment of foreign forces in Ukraine could look like
Ukrainian officials believe that the deployment of 40,000 to 50,000 foreign soldiers, who would act as security forces along the front line, could be feasible.
This is what the Financial Times reported on Thursday, January 23, stressing that the presidency of Donald Trump revives the idea of French president Emmanuel Macron concerning the deployment of a Western military contingent in Ukraine as a deterrent against a future Russian attack.
-A year ago, this idea had been rejected as unrealizable and too risky, wrote the FT. However, since then, the Ukrainian army has encountered difficulties, and the prospect of a membership of Ukraine at NATO has diminished. At the same time, Donald Trump reiterated his wish to stop hostilities as quickly as possible. For his part, Kyiv pointed out to be ready for an agreement if his allies provide him with reliable security guarantees.
According to the FT, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks about the need for 200,000 soldiers, this is an exaggeration. According to participants in negotiations between Kyiv and its allies, Ukrainian officials consider that a deployment of 40,000 to 50,000 foreign soldiers would be completely realistic.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte should discuss this issue during an “informal meeting” scheduled for February 3. Until now, only Baltic countries have expressed their support for this idea, provided that it is a mission including other allies, specify journalists.
When Macron had presented his idea of deploying foreign troops in Ukraine, he proposed that European soldiers assume key support roles, such as the protection of critical infrastructure, the formation of Ukrainian soldiers or the border patrol with Belarus .
However, Trump’s return has changed the trajectory of discussions, says the FT. Emphasis is now put on the way in which European forces could be used as peacekeeping forces, while supporting Ukrainian defense forces.
The mission would have three objectives: to reassure Ukraine as to the support of the West, dissuade Russia from a new attack and show in the United States that Europe is ready to guarantee the security of Ukraine.
Reflecting to what such a deployment could be, Camille Grand, former senior NATO official and now a member of the European Council for International Relations, said these forces should be robust enough not to constitute an easy target for Russia And numerous enough not to require immediate strengthening. Nor should they be perceived as a commitment behind the scenes of NATO.
Great estimates that these forces could have around 40,000 soldiers, probably deployed as part of a special coalition led by the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, with the participation of the Baltic countries and Northern Europe . NATO’s role would be reduced to a minimum to limit the risks of climbing with Russia.
Grand also suggested that the European Union could use NATO strategic planning capacities for such a mission, as part of the “Berlin Plus format”, as has been done for Bosnia and Herzegovina operations.
This possible mission would not be a traditional peacekeeping operation and would not be deployed on the front line either. Western forces would play a role of “stabilization force” or “deterrence force” rather than simple neutral peacekeeping forces.
The FT evokes models like that of South Korea, where American troops are stationed, or the peacekeeping mission led by NATO in Kosovo.
However, the newspaper specifies that the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine may never materialize. The idea is based on a possible agreement with Russia, allowing Ukraine to maintain its sovereignty, its army, control of its territory and its status as a democratic country supported by the West.
Russia could however refuse such an agreement or break any signed treaty. Likewise, Europe could give up sending troops in the middle of war for fear of climbing conflict with Moscow. Finally, even if the leaders approved this mission, it could be blocked by parliaments or rejected by voters.
The FT nevertheless concludes that the risks of sending troops could prove to be less important than the dangers linked to inaction.
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