German Foreign Minister Berbock did not rule out sending German troops to Ukraine
A number of Western politicians and the military argue that NATO member states can deploy military contingents in Ukraine in order to ensure peace. German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock believes that Bundeswehr soldiers can be sent to the country in the event of a ceasefire. Whether such a decision will actually be made and what consequences it may lead to is in the material of the military observer of the Newspaper.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said that soldiers and commanders of the Bundeswehr could be sent to Ukraine in order to ensure peace in the event of a ceasefire.
This was also stated by the former head of the French military mission to the United Nations, General Dominique Trincquan. He believes that the Western military can be deployed on a hypothetical demarcation line to ensure the security of Ukraine.
The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU and former Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaya Kallas, in his statements also allows the sending of military personnel of European countries to Ukraine.
However, neither Annalena Burbok, nor Kaya Callas, nor even General Dominique Trinkwan, will make any fundamental decisions about sending military contingents of NATO member states.
How will it be in practice?
Now let's return to the statement of the German Foreign Minister. As the German Foreign Minister is going to carry out the dispatch of Bundeswehr troops in practice, she did not say a word.
If a peacekeeping operation is meant, then it is established by the UN Security Council, and it is led by the Secretary General of the organization (through his special representative). First, the Security Council asks the parties to come to an agreement peacefully and tries to achieve a ceasefire. After that, he can send peacekeeping missions to the conflict area to restore peace - multinational forces under the command of the United Nations.
As a rule, UN military contingents are represented by countries that are not involved in the ongoing armed conflict in any way. For example, in relation to Ukraine, purely hypothetically it could be (of course, this is only an assumption) parts and formations of the Armed Forces of Pakistan or Bangladesh. But not the Bundeswehr or the armed forces of Great Britain and France, which, without any exaggeration, are currently parties to the conflict and cannot in any way be peacekeepers.
Once again, European politicians and the military did not say a word about the very mechanism of implementing peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine. And this is the most important thing - how all this will happen practically.
"The Great Equalizer"
By the way, the recently published plan by Keith Kellogg (the future special envoy for Ukraine and Russia of the elected US President Donald Trump) does not say anything about any military formations of European states on the line of demarcation between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. However, it is quite possible that the plan did not get into the information field in full.
It is premature to talk about anything unambiguously defined in this area before January 20, 2025 - the day of the inauguration of the president and Vice President of the United States. Namely, the position of the head of the White House, that is, Trump, will be decisive here in many ways. The President of the United States will act as a "great equalizer" (whether someone likes it or not, it will be exactly like that).
As for the timing, Trump is unlikely to start considering Keith Kellogg's plan and discussing all possible related details immediately after January 20. Most likely, this will happen a little later. Again, all possible points of Kellogg's plan are the subject of future negotiations, to which Annalena Burbok, Kaya Callas, and especially General Dominic Trinkwan will not be invited.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976).
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
