The EU is skeptical about the possibility of European peacekeepers in Ukraine: why
Kyiv • UNN
EU diplomats are skeptical about the possibility of deploying European peacekeepers in Ukraine without US involvement. The main obstacles are Russia's rejection and the difficulty of convincing the European population.
Diplomats and EU officials familiar with the discussions about the possible deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine to monitor compliance with the ceasefire, if agreed, are skeptical about the chances of agreeing on a mission if the United States is not involved. Radio Liberty learned about this from three interlocutors who were not authorized to comment on this topic, UNN reports.
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With the United States not participating in the mission, it will be very difficult to convince the European population of the need to send European troops to Ukraine, they say.
"It's a good idea, but you only have to look at the skepticism in the Czech Republic and Poland (two countries that are expected to provide quite a few soldiers) to see that it will be a hard sell," said one EU official, who did not want to be identified.
Another potential obstacle to the realization of this idea was also pointed out by Radio Liberty's interlocutor in EU diplomatic circles.
"Do not believe in European soldiers on Ukrainian soil for two reasons: the Russians will not accept it - the first is that it is difficult to 'sell' to the European population (sending 'our guys' to die is a great populist phrase). The second is that it is difficult to "sell" to the European population (sending "our guys" to Ukraine to die is a great phrase for populists)," the EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Discussions about the possibility of sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine as part of broader security guarantees have intensified since the victory in the US presidential election of Donald Trump, who favors negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow and a ceasefire.
On December 7, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President-elect Donald Trump in Paris to discuss ending the war. According to the WSJ, Trump allegedly told his counterparts that he did not plan to involve American soldiers in a potential peacekeeping mission.
Reuters later reported, citing diplomats, that France was trying to assemble a coalition of 5-8 European countries "determined to act." Macron has not officially made a specific proposal to send a mission to Ukraine.
A number of European countries, including Germany, Italy, Sweden, , have not ruled out their participation in the mission, but their officials, commenting on this topic, emphasize that this is possible only if the fighting ends, and therefore call these discussions somewhat premature.
The discussion of the possible deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine was also part of a closed-door discussion between the leaders of Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the heads of the European Council and the European Commission, and top diplomats from France and Britain, all of whom were gathered at NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's dinner on December 18.
After the dinner, as well as a separate bilateral meeting with the French president the same day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Brussels that he saw positive developments in the discussions about the possibility of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine.
On December 19, Zelenskyy addressed EU leaders with a proposal to join Emmanuel Macron's idea of deploying a European military contingent in Ukraine, calling it part of security guarantees of Russia's non-aggression in the future.
Ukraine continues to see NATO membership as the only possible reliable guarantee in the long term. However, the allies are not yet ready to invite it to join the Alliance.
