The authorities of European countries continue to discuss sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine in the event of a possible end to the war or a ceasefire. A number of analysts and experts believe that the number of peacekeeping contingent should be 40,000 people, but some argue that up to 100,000 people should be sent.
It was reported by Reuters, citing people familiar with the discussions on sending a mission to Ukraine.
According to the agency, analysts and officials give different estimates of the number of such forces, emphasizing that much will depend on their specific mission.
Some analysts believe that it is advisable to form a contingent consisting of 40,000 of military personnel.
Austrian military expert Franz-Stefan Gadi, who works at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that under a rotation scheme, where units prepare for deployment and recover after deployment, the mission could involve about 100,000 troops.
“It's going to severely stretch European land forces, for sure,” he said.
Such a force, Gadi believes, could be formed if some European countries reduce other missions, such as the mission in the Balkans.
At the end of the last century, the United States, European countries and a number of other states sent about 60,000 soldiers to Bosnia and another 50,000 to Kosovo. Now those missions have been significantly reduced.
According to one unnamed official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the peacekeeping mission could require the deployment of up to 100,000 people.
A number of analysts also believe that the Europeans will most likely have to convince the United States to participate in a peacekeeping mission, at least in the form of intelligence and other operational assistance.
The agency notes that the most important question being discussed is what will happen if a European serviceman is shot. The people discussing the deployment of the mission do not have an answer to this.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on December 10, the Rzeczpospolita agency wrote that French President Emmanuel Macron is going to visit Poland to discuss sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine.
However, on December 12, after meeting with Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Warsaw has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine even if the war ends or is frozen.
Recall that The Wall Street Journal wrote that on December 7, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, at a meeting with Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris, supported the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.
We also reported that earlier, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stated that Rome was ready to participate in a peacekeeping mission.
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