Kremlin calls talk of EU peacekeepers in Ukraine premature

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing on 16 December that it was premature to talk about the presence of EU peacekeepers in Ukraine for the time being.

"The Ukrainian side still refuses any negotiations. Moreover, actually documenting these negotiations, [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky (whose term of office expired on May 20) has himself banned them. Under these conditions, we continue the special military operation. <...> About everything else, namely peacekeepers, it is obviously premature to talk now," Peskov said when asked whether there would be any demands from Russia regarding peacekeepers in Ukraine.

Also continuing the topic of negotiations, he noted that there was no talk about them so far and reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said that they could be resumed on the basis of the Istanbul agreements that had been agreed upon. However, the Ukrainian side decided to leave the negotiating table.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas, upon arrival at the meeting of EU foreign ministers, said that the EU member states were not discussing sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. Kallas emphasized that there should be peace in the country to send a European peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine,Gazeta.Ruwrote.

Before that, on December 12, newly elected US President Donald Trump proposed to deploy EU troops in Ukraine to monitor the ceasefire. According to WSJ, Trump believes that Europe should take the main role in providing security and support for Ukraine, while the United States can support this process, but does not plan to send its troops.

On Dec. 11, Politico reported that French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the deployment of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk during their meeting in Warsaw on Dec. 12.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.