European peacekeepers in Ukraine? Tough talks ahead in Munich

The sending of European peacekeepers to Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion at the Munich Security Conference. It will be held this week, February 14-16, writes The New York Times.

The publication recalls that the prospect of a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia has led to active discussion of the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to monitor the ceasefire and help deter Russia from a possible second invasion. However, there are no concrete initiatives yet, and it is not clear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would agree to this.

"This topic is likely to be a major topic of discussion this week at the annual Munich Security Conference, which will be attended by US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio“, the newspaper writes.

France, Britain and the Baltic states have already raised the issue of sending their peacekeepers to Ukraine. At the same time, German officials consider this idea hasty.

The NYT admits that without the participation of American soldiers and military equipment in such an initiative, European troops will be exposed to serious risk and may even be attacked by Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if Ukraine is not accepted into NATO, up to 200,000 foreign soldiers will be needed to ensure its security. However, analysts believe this figure is too high, as it is, for example, three times the size of the British army.

According to Lawrence Friedman, emeritus professor of military science at King's College London, a real deterrent force usually requires “more than 100,000 troops per mission“ for regular rotations and emergencies.

Meanwhile, former British ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton stresses that Europe's readiness “to do something useful for Ukraine“ without the US is important to ensure that Europe has a seat at the table.