Olexander, a veteran of the Ukrainian special forces, places his gun on the table in a café in Kiev as if he were an outlaw from the OK Corral. He orders black tea, the typical drink of the Soviet empire, and reflects on the peace talks that are already being prepared in diplomatic offices: "Putin will not allow multinational armies here in Ukraine, not even on a peacekeeping mission. The Russians will see it as an intolerable concession because they are currently lying to their population by saying they are facing NATO in Ukraine, which is not true, they are facing the Ukrainians."
This reflection by Olexander is shared by the vast majority of the Ukrainian population now that discussions about the possible truce promoted by Donald Trump have started. Although much of Ukraine sees it as unattainable, it is one of the requests of President Volodymyr Zelensky, to obtain the so-called "peace guarantees" that establish a lasting framework and not just a ceasefire that Vladimir Putin could break again when rearmed. A significant part of the diplomatic conversation these days, with the Davos forum at its center, revolves around this possibility.
For months, both French President Emmanuel Macron (the idea's creator) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have considered the possibility of sending troops for potential peace monitoring in the event of a ceasefire, serving as a deterrent to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine again, although neither has offered concrete plans or tangible numbers. Other countries like Poland have already stated that they refuse to send troops to Ukraine, as they share a border with Russia (Kaliningrad) and Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus, a preferential partner of Moscow.
The Baltic countries, for example, have shown great favorability towards this possibility, although they themselves must defend their borders with Russia. In Germany, amidst an electoral process, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed opposition to sending German soldiers to Ukraine, but not his Foreign Minister, whose differences are public. Annalena Baerbock told the Frankfurter Allgemeine that Germany had made an offer of peace troops to Ukraine in case of a ceasefire. Even Pedro Sánchez admitted this week that the possibility of sending Spanish troops is on the table.
But no one in Ukraine trusts Vladimir Putin and considers his word to be worthless. That is why Zelensky does not trust the peace guarantees offered by Russia, but rather those that Washington and its European partners can offer.
For this purpose, Zelensky stated that he would need 200,000 soldiers from allied nations to secure the front line. According to a study by the Financial Times, this is a maximum figure and completely unrealistic because "it even exceeds the number that participated in the D-Day landing in World War II." Other analysts estimate the ideal number to be around 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, a more manageable figure for the donor countries of these troops to cover about 1,000 kilometers of active front alongside the Ukrainian brigades already deployed.
"Ukrainians were able to build an army of over 800,000 soldiers. With Europe's help, it would be an army capable not only of standing and defending itself, but also of repelling Vladimir Putin. He understands this, and that's why his quickest way to prevent it is to pressure the United States to keep Ukraine out of NATO and to pressure all allies to reduce our army to one-fifth of its size. We will not allow this to happen," Zelensky stated in Davos. Later, in an interview with Bloomberg, he said, "Russia must at least return to the borders of 2022. It would be a good opportunity for dialogue."
Regardless of intentions, what has become clear in recent days with Trump's messages to Russia is that the new US Administration will also not buy into the Russian narrative about the "existential war" it maintains in Ukraine and its absurd justifications regarding denazification and NATO expansion. For Trump, this war is "stupid" and will only lead Moscow to economic ruin. Russia is beginning to understand that its demands for a ceasefire will not be met because it is not in a position to enforce them. And Donald Trump has already realized this.