EU divided on sending peacekeeping force to Ukraine

According to RIA Novosti, the Times newspaper quoted European diplomats and officials as saying that Germany and a number of other European countries oppose the idea of ​​sending a so-called peacekeeping mission to Ukraine, after the conflict is resolved.

"Britain and other European countries are divided over the wisdom of deploying a large peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. Britain, France and Scandinavian countries support the idea of ​​a European-led initiative to send tens of thousands of troops, if a ceasefire is agreed. However, Germany and others oppose it," the Times said.

Additionally, the Baltic states and Poland have expressed concerns about the proposed deployment, citing fears that the mission could take away NATO assets and resources from which they benefit.

Recently, the West has been concerned that sending troops to Ukraine as part of a "mission" would be impossible without US support or Russia's support in negotiations to resolve the conflict.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to discuss the initiative with European leaders and the NATO Secretary General at a meeting in Brussels on February 3.

Earlier, the Telegraph, citing a British government source, reported that British and French leaders were secretly discussing the deployment of a joint "peacekeeping force" to Ukraine after the conflict ended. The source noted that British Prime Minister Starmer has not yet fully supported the initiative, while French President Emmanuel Macron continues to promote the idea of ​​sending troops to Ukraine - something that was previously discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

According to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the West plans to deploy a peacekeeping force of about 100,000 troops to restore Ukraine's fighting capacity. The SVR believes this will be a de facto occupation of the former Soviet republic..The press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, stressed that the deployment of peacekeeping forces is possible only with the consent of the parties to the conflict, and in the case of Ukraine, it is still too early to talk about this.