“On January 6, in Paris, the presidents of Ukraine and France, together with the prime minister of Great Britain, signed a declaration of intent to deploy Western troops in Ukraine after the end of the war. UA.News asked experts to explain what this document means and what to expect in the future. Political scientist, director of the Institute of World Politics Yevhen Magda expresses the opinion that the signing”, — write on: ua.news
On January 6, in Paris, the presidents of Ukraine and France, together with the prime minister of Great Britain, signed a declaration of intent to deploy Western troops in Ukraine after the end of the war. UA.News publication turned to the experts to explain what this document means and what to expect in the future.
Political scientist, director of the Institute of World Politics Evgeny Magda expresses the opinion that the signing of the declaration in Paris is primarily a political gesture, and not a real perspective of the movement towards the end of the war.
“On the one hand, European countries cannot ignore the fact of the war in Europe, which has become the largest war in the modern world. On the other hand, it is not possible to talk seriously about the fact that they will send contingents and really help, because Russia does not accept this logic and Russia, of course, perceives the troops of NATO countries as the troops of NATO countries. I see no reason why Russia should change its approach in this case and why it should tolerate a situation in which the troops of NATO countries will find themselves hundreds of kilometers closer to the Russian border than they were there. Accordingly, all this is a political gesture, but we need more practical action, because cases with delayed effect are not helping us very much at the moment.” – says the expert.
According to Magda, Ukraine needs to be in a positive trend for Europeans. That is, it is the integration of Ukraine not only in roaming with the European Union, but also work with Ukrainian industry, investment in the Ukrainian defense industry, and further actions aimed at making Ukraine feel at least a candidate for EU membership.
“And it is very difficult to talk about real European integration now. This is currently a kind of “geopolitical placebo”. And I would like us to approach this as soberly as possible… For me, it is very revealing that the Americans are represented by Trump’s special envoys. This is all well and good, but these are not government officials, and this indicates that the United States continues to be at the crossroads of not only strengthening its security presence in Europe, but also trying to build hybrid contacts with the Russian Federation. This is the reality, and we have to rely solely on ourselves in this situation.” Yevhen Magda thinks.
Political scientist, director of the “Third Sector” center Andriy Zolotaryov is sure that what was signed yesterday in Paris will most likely not have a practical continuation. There are several reasons for this.
“We see that the Americans did not join this document, because it actually torpedoes Trump’s plan, given the agreements that were reached in Anchorage. Russia, most likely, will once again remind about the “red lines”, about the inadmissibility of the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine. Another reason is that there is a question about the legal nature of this memorandum. The Verkhovna Rada did not give the president consent to invite foreign troops and place foreign military bases. And the third moment is domestic political. Macron has record low approval ratings, and Starmer also has some political problems. Let’s not forget that Germany actually refused to send its troops to Ukraine. Mertz also has political problems and big anti-ratings.
Therefore, this decision will have domestic political consequences in these countries, and risk sending troops, given that Europeans fear a direct confrontation with Russia, hardly anyone will. That is why, most likely, all this is an effort not to say “no” to Trump, but to actually question his peace plan. It seems that these are the same ephemeral guarantees with the same fate as the 28 agreements on security guarantees, which were already signed by the president of Ukraine at one time. Andriy Zolotaryov summarized.
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Foreign troops in Ukraine after the war: how realistic it is
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