Europe cannot agree on security guarantees for Ukraine. What you need to know

Requirements for security guarantees from Ukraine is causing heated debate in Western countries, which, according to Kiev's plan, should provide them. The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky talks about the possible deployment of foreign troops and the allocation of large sums to finance his army, however, in Europe, following The United States is gradually rejecting such initiatives. How the EU countries respond to Kiev's demands is in the Izvestia article.

What guarantees does Ukraine require

• The list of specific security guarantees from the West that Ukraine requires for itself has been constantly reviewed over time. The main requirement in recent years has been to join NATO or to accept such defense commitments by the alliance, which will be similar to those that begin to take effect when new members join. Other security guarantees that Kiev mentioned included the deployment of a foreign contingent and the provision of economic and military assistance.

• Zelensky announced the latest version of what security guarantees would suit Ukraine on February 23. He said that joining the European Union (EU) would be an economic safety net for Kiev. He also demanded financial support for the Ukrainian army, which Zelensky estimated at 800,000 people.

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• Zelensky did not speak specifically about NATO membership, acknowledging that the United States and some European countries would be against such a step. At the same time, he indicated that this issue would continue to be discussed. Zelensky did not speak directly about the foreign contingent, but mentioned that in the event of a truce, it would require "verification" of its observance along the entire line of contact. Based on the context, peacekeeping forces should be involved in this process.

• Zelensky did not specify what the funding should be and how many foreign military he wants to see in Ukraine. But in other recent statements, he gave a more specific assessment. Over the past month, he claimed that the maintenance of the current 880,000-strong corps costs $40 billion, and he would like to receive $60 billion to provide for 1.5 million military personnel. At the same time, Zelensky stipulated that membership in NATO would be cheaper for the West. Regarding the number of the foreign contingent, Zelensky repeatedly changed his requirements, outlining its size in the range of 100-200 thousand people.

Europe is not ready to send military

• There are periodic assurances from Europe that it is ready to send its troops to Ukraine and is even discussing the creation of an appropriate coalition. But in a more specific discussion, it turns out that individual countries would prefer to shift this responsibility to someone else.

• Thus, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that he considers it realistic to send troops to Ukraine, but called it impossible to immediately transfer 200 thousand soldiers. In addition, he denied the possibility of sending a Polish mission and separately stressed that he would not do so, even if asked to do so by US President Donald Trump.

• French President Emmanuel Macron was once the main initiator of sending troops to Ukraine. However, he has recently claimed that he does not intend to throw his military into the active combat zone. The head of state also stated that the future peacekeeping contingent should not be under the NATO flag, but will act in accordance with the UN mandate.

• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic publicly announced their refusal to send their troops as part of peacekeeping missions. The Bulgarian Parliament adopted a declaration on the refusal of the country's armed forces to participate in military operations on the territory of Ukraine, although it made an exception for joint missions with international organizations.

How EU countries resist financing Ukraine

• Switch to direct financing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) In Europe, they are also in no hurry. So far, Brussels is discussing a new large aid package of €20 billion, which would be a response to the United States, which has changed its attitude towards the Ukrainian crisis. The head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, took over the development of this project, inviting individual EU members to make contributions depending on the size of their gross national income.

• However, some countries have expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that they are being asked to allocate funds directly from their national budgets. This, according to media reports, was stated by Italy, Spain and Portugal. They want to replace direct financing with more flexible financial instruments.

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The White House leaves no choice for Kiev's allies

•Callas and the two largest economies of the European Union, Germany and France, have not yet supported the initiative. They refer to the fact that they were already active in developing security guarantees for Ukraine, while other countries did not put enough effort. In addition, there has been a painful change of government in both countries in recent months due to budget disagreements. Without the participation of Germany and France, any financial initiative of the European Union will not be complete.

• Only Hungary speaks directly about its refusal to finance Ukraine. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto argues that in this way Europe is only financing the continuation of the conflict, rather than contributing to its end. He promised to block any decisions of Brussels that will be taken in this regard.

What security guarantees does Russia agree to

• Russia's position is determined by the thesis of the indivisibility of security, according to which one country cannot ensure its own security to the detriment of another. The Kremlin emphasizes that this is an obligatory component of international relations. Based on this, Ukraine's accession to NATO is unacceptable for Russia, as this becomes a threatening factor for Russia and greatly increases the risk of a sudden strike.

• Such type of security guarantees for Ukraine as the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent made up of military personnel from NATO countries is unacceptable for Russia. In fact, this would be the same as Ukraine joining the alliance, only without the formal attributes of membership in the bloc. The deployment of foreign troops does not contribute to Russian security guarantees, which should also be provided.

• At the same time, the Kremlin reserves the right for Ukraine to resolve the issue of membership in the European Union, since it is an economic bloc, not a military one. At the same time, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, emphasized the unfriendliness of the European Union towards Russia, especially in connection with its sanctions policy.