Kyiv: On Feb 1, Ukraine’s president approved a decree to boost his armed forces by 100,000 troops over three years. The European leaders backed him in a standoff with Russia and the United States demanded immediate Russian de-escalation. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also urged lawmakers to stay calm and avoid panic. He said that he had ordered the increase “not because we will soon have a war… but so that soon and in the future, there will be peace in Ukraine”.
