Kallas outlines EU's potential peacekeeping mission formats in Ukraine

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, believes that the upcoming international mission in Ukraine could take various formats—from monitoring to deterrence. She stated this during a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, as reported by Radio Liberty.

"The discussion revolves around whether it is a monitoring mission, a deterrence mission, a peacekeeping mission, an enhancement mission, or a protection mission. There are different options. And, of course, different countries perceive this issue differently," Kallas said.

She expressed regret that peace in Ukraine has not been achieved yet.

According to her, one of the topics being discussed today is the Franco-British contingent and the EU training mission to prepare Ukrainian soldiers.

"This is one of the topics we are going to discuss today. I mean raising the question of what more the EU training mission can do. Should we expand its mandate, should we do different things, and should we also discuss where this training should take place? So far, we have managed to maintain the mandate, and we are updating the mission according to Ukraine's needs... As for any 'assurance force,' we also need to know what it really is. Is it deterrence? Is it monitoring? Is it peacekeeping? Also, what is our goal? And it really depends on whether we will have peace or not. So far, we do not have peace," Kallas said.

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.