Sweden does not rule out sending its peacekeeping forces to Ukraine

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has stated that the country does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine as part of any post-war peacekeeping mission.

As reported by Reuters, this comment came after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had stated that he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine to perform peacekeeping duties.

"We must now first negotiate a just and sustainable peace that respects international law, that respects Ukraine and that first and foremost ensures Russia can't just pull back, build new strength and attack Ukraine or another country in just a few years' time," Malmer Stenergard said in a comment to Swedish media. 

"Once we have such a peace established we need to ensure it can be maintained and then our government doesn't exclude anything", she added.

As reported, French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a crisis summit on Monday, 17 February, to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the security of Europe.

On the same day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia for negotiations between the US and Russian delegations on the war in Ukraine.

According to Axios, the meeting between Russian and US representatives will take place on Tuesday, 18 February.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was unaware of the meeting in Saudi Arabia and expressed his concern over the fact that the meeting’s plans were developed outside Kyiv's control.