“We don’t need a symbolic presence just to show Europe is here. We don’t need peacekeepers or blue helmets to fight Russia. Ukraine needs European combat troops,” said Igor Zhovkva, deputy head of Zelensky’s office.

“We hope for the arrival of not peacekeepers, but combat brigades from Europe. Every soldier must be prepared to engage in real fighting,” he told AFP in an interview.

But are Europeans really ready to die for the Kiev regime?