Polish President Duda calls sending troops to Ukraine a talking point

Polish President Andrzej Duda on December 18 called the issue of sending Polish troops to Ukraine to take part in a peacekeeping contingent after the end of hostilities a "topic for discussion," while drawing attention to the fact that no such discussion is currently underway.

"This is a topic for discussion," Duda said when asked by an RMF FM radio reporter about the possible dispatch of Polish troops to Kiev with a peacekeeping mandate.

He made the statement before flying to Brussels to attend a meeting of European leaders with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (whose term expired on May 20).

"From our point of view, the most important thing is Poland's security. This is an absolutely fundamental issue. And if there is a question of a ceasefire or a discussion on the topic of peacekeeping forces, of paramount importance will be the defense of our territory as the territory of the eastern flank of the alliance," Duda said.

At the same time, the Polish leader drew attention to the fact that there is no discussion of such issues now.

"There is no such discussion so far. No one has made such a concrete proposal, no one has presented what the formula will be. So there is no discussion yet," added the Polish President.

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Earlier, on December 18, it was reported that the leaders of European countries are discussing the issue of sending 100 thousand military to Ukraine in case of a ceasefire and signing a peace agreement. The next day, December 19, Zelensky noted that during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, he discussed Paris's initiative to deploy foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine.

On December 17, the deputy speaker of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, said that US President-elect Donald Trump would push ahead with plans to deploy a European military contingent in Ukraine for the sake of transferring the costs of the conflict to Europe. He estimated that the European Union might agree even to the detriment of its own interests.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on the eve reiterated the prematurity of discussions on sending peacekeepers to Ukraine as Kiev continues to refuse to negotiate. In turn, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said that the EU countries were not discussing such steps.

Prior to that, on December 12, Reuters reported that the EU was considering the possibility of creating a coalition to send troops to the Ukrainian territory. The Wall Street Journal also wrote at the time that Trump proposed to deploy European military there to monitor the ceasefire.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.