Ukraine to raise peacekeeping mission proposal at Ramstein talks – Zelenskyy

This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a joint press conference in Kyiv with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Radio Liberty reports.

According to Zelenskyy, on Thursday, April 10, participants of the summit are expected to discuss the Coalition of the Willing, including the potential deployment of a peacekeeping forces on Ukrainian territory.

“On Friday, there will be discussions on the Patriot systems, air defense, additional defense packages, as well as the issue of uniting countries that are ready to open factories or production lines for various types of weapons in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy specified.

The session of the group in Brussels will be led by Germany and the United Kingdom. The United States is unlikely to be present at the meeting. However, the president added, “We have things to discuss with the Americans, and we hope they will change their position.”

Peacekeeping forces in Ukraine

At the end of January, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed to secure Ukraine after the cessation of hostilities. Later, the president clarified that among the peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, there should be U.S. military personnel.                  

On February 11, the NYT reported that there are no 200,000 peacekeepers in Europe who could be sent to Ukraine. This is almost three times the size of the entire British army. On the same day, Zelenskyy said that the mission would work if 100,000 to 150,000 European troops were deployed.

According to AP, a group of European countries is secretly developing a plan to send troops to Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump supported the deployment of European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine but noted that the U.S. would not participate.

According to French Foreign Ministry spokesperson, European countries are currently discussing only the possibility of sending their troops to Ukraine, not their number.

The Rheinmetall concern is ready to offer its products to support an international peacekeeping mission after the full-scale war in Ukraine ends.

On March 16, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, stated that the Kremlin would consider the deployment of Western peacekeepers in Ukraine as a declaration of war with NATO.

On March 21, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated that his country could send peacekeepers to Ukraine only under the United Nations flag.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that a UN peacekeeping mission cannot be an alternative to a military contingent or security guarantees.