'That Means It Will Hurt Putin'
- 19.12.2024, 16:17
The political scientist explained whether the Russian Federation would agree to the deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine.
The EU member states can send up to 100,000 troops to Ukraine for a peacekeeping mission in the event of a ceasefire, Reuters reports.
The publication, citing "some officials", reports that European countries can provide security guarantees for Ukraine, including with the help of tens of thousands of soldiers on the territory of Ukraine.
What's the probability of this scenario? Charter97.org spoke to Ukrainian political scientist and writer Volodymyr Tsybulko about this:
— This scenario is absolutely real, the consent of the United States is behind it, this is part of the plan of Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. There is also an initiative of the UK and France, they joined this idea. Yesterday in Brussels there was a meeting of Volodymyr Zelensky with representatives of the European Union and NATO, the Prime Minister of Italy, the President of Poland, the UK Prime Minister, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany were also invited to it. This is a serious representation.
In addition, the UK held a very comprehensive meeting with the northern group. This is a group of Scandinavian countries, starting with Iceland, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Baltic countries and, perhaps, Poland will join it. This association of the Nordic countries is ready to organize its part of the peacekeeping corps.
This process is already underway. The willingness of countries to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine is quite high, and this is due to the understanding that it is better to send peacekeepers than to participate in real battles. If there is such a chance to bypass the clash and to participate in the form of peacekeepers, then this is more acceptable for Europe.
— Recent statements by Volodymyr Zelensky indicate that Ukraine has its own vision of ending the war. He talks about clear guarantees — this is joining NATO, literally today he said that Ukraine will not reduce its army. What exactly will Ukraine strive for?
— Firstly, if there is any transition period for the restoration of territorial value, then for this period there should be a clear time frame and obligations of the parties. Secondly, Ukraine should be armed simply "to the teeth".
Now this is happening thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities. But the partners, at least the United States, have now begun to fulfil their previous obligations rapidly. So soon, I think — even before the end of the year, we will be ahead of the occupier in some types of weapons.
— Will Putin agree to have 100,000 troops from NATO member states deployed in Ukraine?
— The fact is that conditions are created such that Putin is confronted with a fact. Putin wants to be a negotiating party, but there will be a corridor of force for him to get out of the war.
If he resists, Ukraine will need to be armed simply dimensionlessly. That means it will hurt Putin. It is necessary to inflict such a blow that will force him to flee Ukraine.
So far, he is being squeezed out of Ukraine, but it is possible to create conditions when he just has to flee from the territory of Ukraine, as he fled from Syria.