LONDON, April 30. /TASS/. Europe would struggle to collectively muster 25,000 troops to be part of a "deterrence" force in Ukraine because its armies are undermanned and underfunded, The Times reported quoting sources.
The Times was given a rare insight into conversations between Europe’s defense ministers and military chiefs as they thrashed out plans for a "coalition of the willing" force.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the British chief of the defense staff, is said to have asked his counterparts on the Continent if they could put together a 64,000-strong force to send to the country in the event of a peace deal.
He said Britain would be willing to send up to 10,000 personnel in a meeting earlier this month.
However, at the next meetings, defense ministers from all over Europe stated that they had no chance of recruiting 64,000 troops. Close allies expressed their doubts to British Defense Minister John Healey. They indicated that a force of this size would require a total of 256,000 troops over two years, taking into account rotation.
The European military declared that even 25,000 people "would become a target for joint efforts," said a source privy to the discussions in Brussels. According to him, Estonia and Finland were concerned that any deployment would "weaken" their own border defenses, and Poland, Spain and Italy made it clear that they would not give their soldiers.
It is now assumed that Britain and France will send instructors to Western Ukraine instead of multinational ground forces.
Russia has repeatedly stated that the appearance of NATO troops in Ukraine is unacceptable.