A number of European countries are secretly preparing a plan to send troops to Ukraine — Associated Press

A number of European countries are secretly developing a plan to send a joint military contingent to Ukraine in order to "ensure the implementation" of the future peace agreement with Russia.

According to the Associated Press, consultations between leading European countries on this issue began a year ago.

However, recently the process has been going on more intensively amid increasing concerns about the position of US President Donald Trump.

The EU fears that Washington and Moscow will agree on Ukraine among themselves, without taking into account the interests of Europe, and possibly without taking into account the position of Kiev, the article says.

In this regard, a group of European states is studying possible options for a military presence on the territory of Ukraine.

At the same time, there is no final decision on the composition and role of these "peacekeeping forces" yet. European capitals believe that clarity on this issue will depend on the terms of the peace agreement.

The article says that the main role in this process is played by Great Britain and France. According to a number of analysts, there is a lot of PR in this whole story, since it will be difficult for these countries to send Ukraine has a fairly large contingent.

As EADaily reported, earlier, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, said that any peacekeepers in Ukraine without a UN mandate would become a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces.