Ukraine underestimates peacekeeping contingent issue, says Polish politician

Miroslaw Czech discussed this on the Espreso TV channel.

“Regarding the French nuclear umbrella, I also pointed out that in Ukraine, as well as in Poland, there is an underestimation of the so-called peacekeeping contingent being formed by France and Great Britain. The main goal of this contingent is to monitor peace in Ukraine. Its real task, however, is to ensure stability because it will not be directly involved at the borders. The contingent is expected to include 20,000 to 30,000 troops, which is absolutely insufficient. However, its goals and tasks are entirely different,” Czech stated.

President Zelenskyy discussed this during his speech at the European Council on March 6, where he mentioned that it is a precursor to the European army.

“Indeed, it’s a corps made up of various European armies, with military personnel from 15 countries expected to join. The final composition is still unknown, but its creation is ongoing. Additionally, Australia has confirmed its readiness to join the process. For effective operation, command structures, logistics, and cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine need to be organized. This signals a new approach to be implemented directly in Ukraine,” Czech added.

Czech noted that the processes happening now, which would have seemed impossible just three months ago, are now not only possible but necessary.

In general, Trump has stated that European countries should fund their own defense and take greater responsibility for it, as he does not intend to protect them. With his statements about Greenland and Canada, as well as his actions regarding President Zelenskyy in the White House, Europe is starting to think about whether it would be easier to break free from America within NATO.

“I read with great surprise an article in Die Welt—a German daily. It was written by the former director of strategic management at NATO headquarters. So, not just a publicist but the director of strategic planning at NATO. And she stated: that’s it, we need to free NATO from America. This is the debate now. So, if you want that, we can also respond,” he said.

According to the Polish politician, most Europeans today are convinced that they need to help Ukraine and strengthen their defense. Public opinion surveys show that Europeans understand the situation.

“For example, in Germany, the future chancellor, Friedrich Merz, representing the Christian Democrats, stated after winning the election: 'We need to think about Germany and Europe’s independence from America.' Trump really had to work hard to bring it to this point. And he definitely did that. The Christian Democrats in the German political system are known as Atlanticists—people who have always advocated the idea of alliances with America,” Czech explained.

Potential peacekeeping forces in Ukraine: what is known

At the end of January, President Zelenskyy stated that to ensure Ukraine’s security after the cessation of hostilities, at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed. He later clarified that US military personnel should be among the peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.

On February 11, NYT reported that Europe does not have 200,000 peacekeepers available to send to Ukraine, which is almost three times the size of the entire British Army. On the same day, Zelenskyy stated that the mission would operate with 100,000 to 150,000 European troops.

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

US President Donald Trump supported the deployment of European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine but stated that the US would not participate.

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoyne stated that European countries are currently only discussing the possibility of sending their military personnel to Ukraine, not their numbers.

Meanwhile, the German company Rheinmetall announced its readiness to equip the peacekeepers in Ukraine.

On March 16, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that the Kremlin would view the deployment of Western peacekeepers in Ukraine as a declaration of war by NATO.

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

On March 23, Czech President Petr Pavel expressed the view that his country should join the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine after the war with Russia ends.