The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made an important statement during the regular meeting in the "Ramstein" format, stressing that the placement of a foreign military contingent on the territory of Ukraine will be one of the main tools for forcing Russia to make peace. According to the Ukrainian leader, this step can significantly affect the dynamics of the war and force Russia to change its aggressive policy.
According to him, the deployment of foreign military contingents can become one of the main tools to force the aggressor country to peace, since the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has not given up his aggressive plans.
Zelenskyi reminded that for the first time the initiative of placing peacekeeping troops of international partners in Ukraine was taken by French President Emmanuel Macron. He voiced this idea in February 2024.
After some time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy will discuss sending a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Keir Starmer (the British Prime Minister plans to visit Kyiv). The leader of the Ukrainian state believes that such a decision can help force the Russian dictator Putin to end the war, but other measures are needed. According to Zelenskyi, simply sending a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine is not enough to end the war. Our country needs other security guarantees.
The issue of sending foreign peacekeepers to Ukraine has been discussed for a long time. But, for example, the USA does not want to send its troops to us. Donald Trump, who will become the new president of the United States on January 20, 2025, believes that the European Union should send its peacekeepers to Ukraine. Trump himself expects Russia's war against Ukraine to end by about mid-2025. He said this during a briefing on January 7.
In the countries of the European Union, the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine is treated differently. This initiative is supported by France and Great Britain. According to the media, these countries are already considering such a possibility. The number of British and French peacekeepers is also mentioned - about 100,000 people. In December 2024, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius allowed peacekeeping troops to be sent to Ukrainian territory, but only after the end of the war. At the same time, in December 2024, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, said that it was still too early to speculate on the topic of a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.
In addition, the high representative of the European Union in matters of foreign and security policy, Kaya Kallas, believes that before talking about EU peacekeepers in Ukraine, it is necessary to achieve peace. She said this at the end of last year.
