Czech officials have expressed serious doubts about the prospect of deploying Czech troops in a future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. Defense Minister Jana Černohová emphasized that the decision to deploy troops would depend on the specific parameters of the ceasefire and the level of allied involvement, including US support. This was reported by UNN with reference to Euractiv.
Details
Chernokhova emphasized that current discussions about Czech military involvement are "very premature.
Any decision on our involvement will depend on the specific parameters of the ceasefire and the level of participation of our allies, including the support of the United States,
Prime Minister Petr Fiala reinforced this cautious approach. "We will certainly decide when the terms of any agreement and other parameters are clear. At the moment, the most important thing is to agree on a just and sustainable peace," Fiala said.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky also expressed a similar approach. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan, on the other hand, was more open to the idea, saying that if a peacekeeping mission is established, the Czech Republic should participate because it is in its own interests.
According to Czech President Petr Pavel, in order to deploy peacekeeping or stabilization troops somewhere, there must be a clear and understandable mandate.
Both sides must agree to this. That is, Ukraine and Russia. We already had to deal with this in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, and even then Russia did not agree,
Meanwhile, the opposition parties ANO (Patriots) and ESN (Freedom and Direct Democracy) strongly opposed the idea of sending Czech troops abroad, sharply dissociating themselves from the government's cautious approach.
Addendum
US President Donald Trump saidthat he is not against the deployment of a European contingent in Ukraine. However, he stated that there would be no US military in Ukraine.
Politico reportedthat UK lawmakers from the main parties plan to put to a vote Prime Minister Keir Starmer's proposal to send troops to Ukraine as part of the post-war process.
