“The EU is skeptical about the possibility of the appearance of European peacekeepers in Ukraine: why EU diplomats are skeptical about the possibility of placing European peacekeepers in Ukraine without the participation of the United States. The main obstacles are Russia’s rejection and the difficulty of convincing the European population.”, — write on: unn.ua
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Under the conditions that the United States does not participate in the mission, it will be very difficult to convince the European population of the need to send European military to Ukraine, they note.
“It’s a good idea, but you only have to look at the skepticism in the Czech Republic and Poland (two countries that have to provide quite a lot of soldiers) to see that it will be a hard sell,” said one EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another potential obstacle in the implementation of this idea was also pointed out by a Radio Liberty 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. The second – it is difficult to “sell” to the European population (sending “our boys” to Ukraine to die is a great phrase for populists),” says the EU diplomat on the condition of anonymity.
“There is a positive”: Zelensky on the discussion of the placement of peacekeepers in UkraineDecember 19 2024, 06:40 • 68190 views
The discussion of the possibility of sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine within the framework of broader security guarantees intensified after the victory in the presidential elections in the USA of Donald Trump, who advocates negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow and a ceasefire.
On December 7, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyi and US President-elect Donald Trump in Paris, where they discussed ending the war. According to the WSJ, Trump apparently told his counterpart that he does not plan to involve American soldiers in a potential peacekeeping mission.
The Reuters agency, citing diplomats, later reported that France is trying to assemble a coalition of 5-8 European countries “determined to act.” Macron did not officially make a specific proposal to send a mission to the territory of Ukraine.
Germany can participate in the peacekeeping mission after the ceasefire in Ukraine – mass mediaDecember 17 2024, 17:51 • 29942 views
At the same time, a number of European countries did not exclude their participation in the mission, in particular Germany, Italy, Sweden, but their officials, commenting on this topic, emphasize that this is possible only in the event of the end of hostilities, calling these discussions somewhat premature.
The discussion of the possible appearance of peacekeepers in Ukraine also became part of the closed discussions between the leaders of Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the heads of the European Council, the European Commission, top diplomats of France and Britain – on December 18, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte gathered everyone at his house for dinner.
After this dinner, as well as a separate bilateral meeting with the President of France on the same day, Volodymyr Zelenskyi told journalists in Brussels that he sees positive developments in discussions regarding the possibility of deploying peacekeepers in Ukraine.
The head of EU diplomacy responded to the idea of peacekeepers in UkraineDecember 16 2024, 09:34 • 21117 views
On December 19, Zelensky appealed to the leaders of the European Union with a proposal to join Emmanuel Macron’s idea of placing a European military contingent in Ukraine, calling it part of the security guarantees of Russia’s non-aggression in the future.
Ukraine continues to consider membership in NATO to be the only possible reliable guarantee in the long term. However, the allies are not yet ready to invite her to the Alliance.