With active combat across 1,000km of territory – longer than the Germany-France border – Volodymyr Zelenskyy says at least 200,000 troops would be needed. But if they were deployed along the full border, that number jumps considerably….
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00How many peacekeepers would it take to secure the border between Russia and Ukraine?
00:04Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says 200,000.
00:08But is that realistic?
00:10The exact length of the front line is difficult to determine.
00:14However, as a guide,
00:15the 2013 border between Ukraine and Russia was 3,700 km long.
00:21The current front line is somewhat longer.
00:24For comparison,
00:25the border between Lebanon and Israel is 130 km long,
00:29and since September 2024,
00:32has been policed by 10,000 UN peacekeepers.
00:35That's 77 per kilometer
00:37and a similar concentration in Ukraine would require 285,000 peacekeepers.
00:43A number of European countries,
00:45led by the UK and France have offered to provide troops,
00:49but without the US some say they would not be able to support
00:52such a large number on permanent deployment.
00:54In any case, Russia's President Vladimir Putin
00:57says the presence of any troops from NATO countries in Ukraine
01:00would be unacceptable.