PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Kenyan President William Ruto, on a visit to Haiti, said on Saturday that he was open to Kenya's anti-gang mission in the country being converted to a full U.N. peacekeeping operation.

This will bring the Kenyan contingent helping Haitian police fight gangs up to 1,000.

The trip by President William Ruto of Kenya came against a bleak backdrop in Haiti, where gangs operate with impunity and the Kenyan peacekeepers remain largely out of sight.

Kenya’s President William Ruto arrived in Haiti on Saturday, claiming that because of a Kenyan police force battling gangs “the country’s security has significantly improved.” Ruto’s claim was contradicted by a United Nations security expert,

Ruto made the announcement Saturday during a brief stopover in Haiti while on his way to this week’s high level meeting of world leaders at the United Nations. Ruto currently has 400 specialized police officers in Haiti as part of the first contingent of foreign security personnel involved in the U.

The security mission in Haiti led by troops from Kenya is set to receive more men from the East African nation in the coming weeks. This is in line with the promise the Kenyan president made in 2023 to aid in curtailing the insecurity issues in the Caribbean country.