PARIS, November 25. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out against imposing restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian army.
"The revival of the Ukrainian army is the main security guarantee. The first thing that Ukraine’s protection requires is the country’s own army. That said, all the recent debate in Geneva was focused on not limiting the size of the Ukrainian armed forces," Macron told RTL radio.
He claimed that "Russia is obsessed with the idea of reducing the Ukrainian army as the proposal came up during the Istanbul talks back in the spring of 2022, when Russia said the Ukrainian army should not exceed 50,000 - 60,000 troops."
Macron pointed out that "there should be no limits" when it came down to the Ukrainian army’s size. He added that Europe’s efforts were aimed at training and equipping Ukrainian troops and ensuring their combat readiness in the coming months and years.
According to Western media reports, the initial version of the US "peace plan" suggested that Ukraine should abandon plans to join NATO, and the bloc should promise not to integrate Kiev into its area of operation. The plan stipulated Washington would recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and Donbass, Ukrainian troops would withdraw from the Donetsk People’s Republic, Ukraine would recognize Russian as an official language, the Ukrainian army would be reduced, and sanctions on Russia would be lifted. EU leaders opposed these provisions and started working on counter-proposals.