The ambassador to Poland believes that stabilization at the front should precede the international peacekeeping mission

To strengthen Ukraine with weapons in order to stabilize the front and restore positions, and only after that to talk about an international peacekeeping mission – such a sequence of actions, according to Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, would be optimal. The diplomat said this in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

According to Bodnar, strengthening positions at the front will help Ukraine set its conditions in the negotiation process.

“As soon as there is some stabilization at the front and the possibility of change on the ground, then we can talk about the possibility of a peacekeeping mission,” the ambassador said.

He noted that it would be in the interests of Ukraine to involve as many countries as possible in such a coalition of peacekeepers so that Russia could not renew its aggression in the foreseeable future.

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“But now the main thing is to strengthen the defense of Ukraine, to strengthen us with weapons, ammunition and the appropriate resources so that we can continue the war and impose conditions on Russia, not Russia on us,” Bodnar added.

Currently, the ambassador of Ukraine in Poland does not see the conditions under which it would be possible to implement an initiative with an international peacekeeping mission in Ukraine in the near future.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on December 19 that he sees positive developments in the discussions regarding the possibility of deploying peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. He said that this issue was raised during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom Zelensky discussed “his old ideas.”

Emmanuel Macron first spoke that European countries could send troops to Ukraine at the end of February 2024, but then this idea did not find support among the partner countries.