Did Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ask Europe to send 200,000 troops to reinforce Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia? No, that's not true: Zelenskyy referred to 200,000 soldiers at the Davos Economic Forum in January 2025, but he did not ask for a reinforcement of his army, which is smaller than Russia's. He said that that would be the minimum quantity required for a peacekeeping force to be sent to Ukraine in case a potential peace agreement with Russia is reached in the future to protect the country.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on January 29, 2025. The person in the video says in Czech, translated by Lead Stories staff:
What I read today on iDnes, that Zelenskyy, the dictator not elected by anyone, the so-called president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is demanding 200,000 troops from Europe, because he started saying that the Russians can immediately have 1.5 million soldiers. They (Ukraine) can't and they need them... and the British actually welcome it. The British like it that Europe would provide 200,000 troops to Ukraine... so the European Union will continue supporting Ukraine financially going forward and most likely, from what is being seen in the news, also militarily, but not just with weapons anymore, but also it looks like we will support Ukraine with military personnel
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 09:11:59 2025 UTC)
The person speaking in the video is Ladislav Vrabel, a known organizer of anti-government demonstrations in Prague, Czech Republic, and a sanctioned spreader of disinformation (archived here) who has often promoted anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian propaganda. In the past, Vrabel got a suspended sentence for spreading a threatening message about alleged Czech plans to use nuclear weapons against Russia. On October 13, 2024, the municipal court in Prague overturned that decision (archived here) after Vrabel´s appeal and fined the man ten thousand Czech korunas instead.
Vrabel's statements in the video about Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking for 200,000 troops from Europe are misleading as they are taken out of context.
Zelenskyy commented that Ukraine needed at least 200,000 troops from Europe at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which he attended in January 2025. He mentioned the peacekeeping troops several times to journalists, first in an interview panel after his address on January 21, 2025, as reported by major media outlets such as Reuters here (archived here) or the Guardian here (archived here). From media reports, it is clear that he was not requesting to reinforce the Ukrainian army with European soldiers to fight Russian forces. Instead, he spoke about a "minimum" size of a "peacekeeping force" that would need to be deployed in Ukraine in case of a peace deal with Russia.
Videos of Zelenskyy's answer during an interview panel in Davos, in which he talks about 200,000 peacekeepers, were also shown in the Czech media on January 22, 2025, including iDnes here (archived here), a Czech daily Vrabel cites in the above TikTok video.
The headline of a Reuters video on iDnes, dated January 22, 2025, in Czech, translated by Lead Stories staff reads: "Two hundred thousand allied troops are the minimum to ensure peace, Zelenskyy said" and the caption also in Czech, continues, as translated by Lead Stories staff: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed to prevent a new Russian attack after any ceasefire agreement. Zelenskyy said at least that number would be needed as a security guarantee, if the Russian armed forces total 1.5 million personnel and Ukraine has only half." (Below is a screenshot of the video on the iDnes website).
(Source: iDnes website screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 09:11:59 2025 UTC)
In the video, Zelenskyy details his answer in English when asked how big a contingent of peacekeepers would be needed to protect the line of contact: "Of all the Europeans? Two hundred thousand. It's the minimum. It's the minimum, otherwise it's nothing."
An article (archived here) published on iDnes on January 22, 2025, also cites Zelenskyy's answer on the peacekeepers needed to protect the "line of contact" in case of a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. The article and the headline also refer to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's interview with Sky News on January 17, 2025, (archived here) in which the British leader said that while he did not want "to get ahead of ourselves," the UK would play its "full part" in any peace negotiations in Ukraine - including by deploying British troops for peacekeeping.
Zelenskyy also commented on peacekeeping troops in Ukraine in another interview he gave to Bloomberg News's Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait in Davos on January 22, 2025 (archived here). Zelenskyy specified during the conversation that any effective peacekeeping force to be deployed in Ukraine would also need to include U.S. troops as Ukraine´s European allies don't have enough soldiers to be a realistic deterrent against President Vladimir Putin.
The full recording of Zelenskyy's interview with Mr. Micklethwait in Davos can be accessed here.
