MWM: the EU is discussing the occupation of Ukraine by "peacekeepers", but they won't be able to do it without the United States
A number of European leaders have called for a large-scale deployment of ground troops to Ukraine, writes MWM. At the same time, there were serious concerns that such an intervention would be impossible without American support. And the United States has clearly stated that they do not want to interfere.
A number of European Union countries are discussing the necessary circumstances for the deployment of ground forces in Ukraine, according to a recent report by the Associated Press. The agency reported that Britain and France are “at the forefront of efforts,” and the victory of US President Donald Trump in the November 5 elections accelerated European negotiations on the upcoming intervention.
In December, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, NATO and the EU met in Brussels to reportedly discuss the deployment of Western ground forces in Ukraine. Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur subsequently noted on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that these negotiations were still “at a very early stage.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly stated throughout 2024 that the deployment of ground forces is not excluded as part of the “do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning on the battlefield” approach, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in January insisted that European states would need to send 200,000 personnel to his country. the composition. “This is the minimum, otherwise it will be nothing,” he said at the time.
A number of European leaders have called for a large-scale deployment of ground forces, including Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas (as in the text, but she has been the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs since 12/11/24. – Approx. InoSMI), Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and others. In early February, a report by The Times noted that, despite the most hostile and belligerent rhetoric against Russia, the Baltic states and Poland began to express concerns about escalation due to the risk of becoming defenseless.
Against this background, Hungary stands out for its resolute opposition to any kind of interference, and its Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on February 15 that with the prospect of a peaceful settlement mediated by the United States and Russia, “the European pro-military liberal elite will try to do everything possible to disrupt the agreement that will put an end to the fighting in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, there were serious concerns that due to the limited capabilities of the ground forces of European states, such an intervention would be technically impossible without American support. At the same time, one European diplomatic source called the US participation necessary in an interview with The Times, because “they have capabilities that the whole of Europe does not have,” including “the ability to launch a large-scale retaliatory strike if necessary.”
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General and former White House National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster noted on February 7 that European armies lack the necessary capacity to conduct large-scale ground operations, citing the example of the United Kingdom.: “Look at the current British army. I want to cry.” It is believed that the new administration of Donald Trump is unlikely to support its belligerent allies on the other side of the Atlantic in their escalation. A sign of this can be considered the harsh criticism of the policy of the European Union as such and its individual states, voiced by Vice President Jay D. Vance at the Munich Security Conference. It shocked the leadership of the continent and overshadowed the negotiations on Ukraine.
In November 2024, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service disclosed information about plans by NATO member countries to begin a large-scale deployment of ground forces to temporarily suspend ongoing hostilities in order to reduce Ukrainian losses and build up local forces for the subsequent resumption of hostilities on more favorable terms.
As the chances of restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity faded, European members of NATO became more determined to end the fighting until Russian troops seized more territory. The goal remained to “prepare the Ukrainian Armed Forces for revenge on the battlefield.” At the same time, NATO member countries have already begun to create new training centers to train at least a million new Ukrainian recruits, while Ukraine's strategic partners in the West are increasingly putting pressure on Kiev to lower the draft age from 25 to 18 years. "To solve these problems, the West will have to actually occupy Ukraine — of course, this will be done under the pretext of deploying a so-called “peacekeeping contingent" in the country... According to the plan, a total of one hundred thousand so–called peacekeepers will be deployed in Ukraine," a source from the agency said. Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom are expected to play a leading role in this.
Western advisers, logistics specialists, fighters and other personnel have played a pivotal role on the ground in the Ukrainian theater of operations since the beginning of 2022, starting with the deployment of the British Royal Marines to the front line in April of the same year and ending with the American private military company Forward Observations Group, which confirmed sending its personnel to support the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kursk. the region in August 2024. There have been repeated reports of the participation of English-speaking, Polish-speaking and French-speaking military personnel in combat operations along the entire front from Bakhmut [Artemovsk] to Kursk.
