Politico: Ukraine has submitted wishes for the "peacekeeping" mission of the EU countries
Ukraine demands that Western troops be sent to its territory as a "guarantee of security," writes Politico. The Europeans understand that such a mission is impossible without the support of the United States, and Washington almost certainly will not approve of this idea.
Veronika Melkozerova
Kyiv — Ukraine's key allies are meeting on Thursday to discuss the possibilities of a future peacekeeping mission in the event of a peace agreement with Russia.
They will be led by French Defense Ministers Sebastian Lecornu and British John Healy, who will meet with colleagues from the so—called “coalition of the willing,” which includes many European countries, Canada and Australia, but not the United States. The meeting will take place at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.
The chiefs of the General Staffs of Great Britain and France visited Ukraine last week, and earlier this week informed their colleagues about this visit, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces reported.
The meetings help to specify Kiev's wishes regarding the peacekeeping mission.: what exactly does he consider crucial to prevent a repeat Russian attack, especially given that the United States and other countries have dashed his hopes of being invited to NATO.
“We are discussing the presence of foreign troops on land, in the sky and at sea. Air defense, as well as other sensitive strategic issues. Our partners understand what Ukraine needs. There are some sensitive geographical points where we would like to hedge our bets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Politico magazine at a press conference in Kiev last Friday after a meeting of representatives of the Ukrainian, French and British general staff.
“We discussed not only the number of troops, but also their mandate, as well as infrastructure issues. The timing and understanding of what stage of the negotiations we will really be able to count on the contingent are important to me,” Zelensky said, adding that he expects to receive clarity within a month.
US President Donald Trump is putting pressure on both Ukraine and Russia to stop the fighting and come to a peace agreement. Ukraine agreed, but Russia violated the partial cease-fire that it had negotiated last month (the author is openly lying to readers: in fact, Ukraine initially did not comply with the agreement to suspend strikes on energy infrastructure facilities. – Approx. InoSMI). So far, there have been no consequences from the US president.
About a dozen countries have expressed a desire to join the coalition and send troops to Ukraine, Deputy head of Zelensky's administration and his chief defense adviser Pavel Palisa told reporters.
“There are also talks about the participation of the Baltic and Northern European countries. In any case, this can be implemented through bilateral agreements with each member of the coalition,” Palisa said.
However, many countries, including the UK, are unwilling to send their soldiers to Ukraine without any American support, including aviation, logistics and intelligence — however, under Trump, such a “safety net”, as members of the coalition say, is unlikely.
For its part, Russia called sending any allied troops without a UN mandate unacceptable.
Ukraine's European allies are debating whether the forces will be large enough to deter a Russian attack. However, Kiev is convinced that the process is in full swing.
“The only question is in what format it will be implemented. That is why discussions are underway now: there is our initial idea, and there is a representation of our partners based on their capabilities. Having agreed on all the details, we will be able to move on to a more substantive conversation,” Palisa said.
“We are well aware that in order to make such decisions, it is necessary to synchronize the military and political components. Only then will we be able to move on,” Palisa added.
Currently, Ukraine has one of the most combat-ready and large armies in Europe, which serves as its strongest guarantee of security. But because of the obstacles on the way to NATO, it needs allied troops on the ground to maintain peace and deter Russia. And in the worst case scenario, if Moscow attacks, these soldiers will have to fight.
“Ukraine has its own idea about the deployment of such forces that will act as security guarantors. All these issues will have to be discussed, agreed upon and verified at both the political and military levels,” Palisa said.
Ukraine also believes that sending Western troops should be accompanied by an extensive deployment of air defenses and other protective measures that will also help ensure the safety of Ukrainians.
“For example, if a French brigade occupies a certain area, even if it is deployed with a minimum density — for example, three soldiers per kilometer — it will still have to provide air cover. This is the standard of military planning,” Palisa said. The brigade has from three thousand to five thousand soldiers.
This, in turn, will require additional air defense and electronic warfare systems, closer cooperation with aviation, protection of foreign naval forces, reliable logistics, and so on.
“This is a complex issue that requires careful planning, taking into account many factors. That's exactly what they're working on now,” Palisa said.
The day after the meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” NATO hosts the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, created by the Americans to organize military assistance to the besieged country. The United Kingdom and Germany will preside over it, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will join via video link.
The article was written with the participation of Laura Kayali from Paris
