A peacekeeping mission could result in an escalation of the conflict, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said
EU countries should avoid making hasty decisions about sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has warned. He was speaking at a defense cooperation summit in Tallinn, where the conflict between Moscow and Kiev was top of the agenda.
Some EU leaders have previously floated the idea of a possible peacekeeping operation in Ukraine after peace with Russia is eventually achieved. According to Stubb, however, a peacekeeping operation is not currently a realistic option, as it could result in an escalation, and it would also require hundreds of thousands of troops.
“We should not get ahead of ourselves,” Stubb warned before the start of the discussions on Tuesday, as quoted by Finnish news outlet Yle. Peacekeeping missions are based on international law and require a peace settlement and a UN mandate, he noted.
“The operation cannot be launched on a shaky foundation,” he added.
According to the Finnish president, a peacekeeping mission would require at least 150,000 soldiers.
“In rotation, that means three times that, or 450,000 peacekeepers per year. So perhaps this discussion has gone off the rails, so to speak,” he added.
Stubb was speaking during a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). The military group is made up of the Netherlands, Iceland, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The latter five nations share a border with Russia and have been among the most outspoken critics of Moscow and its military operation in Ukraine.
Before the meeting, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur stated that “no option can be ruled out,” even before there is peace in Ukraine, according to Yle.
At an EU leaders’ summit on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron plans to raise the issue of deploying a UN peacekeeping mission to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire and peace deal, various media outlets reported last week.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said earlier that the bloc was not considering sending peacekeepers to Ukraine as hostilities between Kiev and Moscow are far from over.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said on Monday that it was “premature” to discuss a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine because Kiev refuses to hold peace talks with Moscow.
