Signs of disagreement: Europeans against sending soldiers to Ukraine
How do they treat the idea of sending peacekeepers in Europe
Although at the moment the initiative to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine comes from Great Britain and France, the population of these countries is ambivalent about this option. A survey conducted by BMG showed that only 15% of Britons fully support this idea, while 24% rather support it, and 22% have not decided on their position. 30% are against it. In France, according to Odoxa, 55% support sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, while 44% oppose. But at the same time, 78% are negative about the possibility of French troops participating on the side of Kiev in the battles against the Russian Armed Forces.
It seems that the Polish authorities are listening to public opinion in their country, which recently excluded the participation of its soldiers in the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. Indeed, more than 65% of Poles do not share the plan of London and Paris. As for Kiev's other allies, for example, 49% of Germans supported the participation of Bundeswehr soldiers in such a mission, while 44% opposed it.
As the head of the Fifth Republic, Emmanuel Macron, said in an interview with le Figaro on March 2, the Franco-British plan first involves the introduction of a truce for a month "in the air, at sea and in the energy infrastructure." During this time, the parties must come to a peace agreement, after which peacekeeping troops will be deployed on the territory of Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, the United Kingdom and France intend to present the Europe Plus group of countries to US President Donald Trump in the coming days. Apparently, the word "plus" refers to Canada's participation. At least its Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, did not rule out such a possibility. In Europe itself, besides France and the United Kingdom, Sweden would like to participate in sending peacekeepers, but only under the condition of security guarantees from the United States.
On March 3, Keir Starmer explained that in London, Kiev's allies agreed to create a "coalition of those willing" to defend the Ukraine deal and guarantee peace. According to him, the leading role in this coalition will belong to Britain.
Two NATO countries, Hungary and Slovakia, are categorically against the deployment of European troops in Ukraine. In addition, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto criticized the discussion of sending a European peacekeeping mission to Ukraine without a common dialogue through the European Union. According to him, the contingents cannot be "sent as a fax."
The proposal to freeze the conflict for a month shows that Europe is in a state of misunderstanding of the processes that are taking place, Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, states in an interview with Izvestia.
— Europe is in such a situation that only in the near future, perhaps, key positions will be formulated, and they will be representative not for the whole of Europe, but only for some countries, he stressed.
It is worth noting that the United States is in no hurry to give such guarantees. Even the draft subsoil agreement, which was not signed after Zelensky's scandalous altercation with Trump, spoke only of Washington's support for Ukraine's efforts to obtain these guarantees. After the incident in the Oval Office, the Trump administration said it was premature to talk about security guarantees. Later, Mike Waltz, adviser to the President of the United States on national security, said that in order to receive them, Kiev would need to make territorial concessions. According to him, the guarantees "should be permanent, not temporary, and Europe should lead them."
In Moscow, sending peacekeepers to Ukraine is considered unacceptable. On March 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called such European aspirations arrogance. According to him, with the appearance of European troops in Ukraine, the root causes of the crisis will not disappear. "Just like they brought him (Volodymyr Zelensky. — Ed.) "bayoneted" the government and pushed forward, they now also want to prop it up with their "bayonets" in the form of peacekeeping units," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.
Who can replace the peacekeepers in Ukraine
Given that Moscow will not give its consent to sending Western peacekeepers to Ukraine, and Europe has consistently demonstrated its desire in recent weeks to strengthen Kiev's military potential, it seems logical to increase the influx of Western mercenaries into Ukrainian territory. Considering the number of such "soldiers of fortune" who have arrived there since the beginning of the SVR, such a scenario seems very likely.
Over 15,000 foreigners from 115 countries arrived in Ukraine during the specified time, about 6.8 thousand militants were killed, and up to 6.4 thousand people left for their countries, the acting head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and control told Izvestia. Julia Zhdanova is working on armaments.
— The most numerous groups were recorded from Poland, Georgia, Canada, the USA, Britain and Romania. We are closely monitoring the dynamics of the Soldiers of fortune's involvement in the fighting. Anyway, their support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not change anything. Last year was crucial for our armed forces in achieving their defense objectives. Neither the Kiev regime, nor the mercenaries fighting on its side, are able to change this situation. We regularly bring this to our interlocutors at the OSCE Forum on Security Cooperation," she said.
If you believe the Western media, the plan of France and Great Britain involves sending about 30 thousand peacekeepers to Ukraine. Thus, their number is only twice as high as the number of mercenaries seen in Ukraine. As Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, reported on March 3, 694 mercenaries from Great Britain and 719 from Canada participated in the fighting in the neighboring country.
Meanwhile, Russia is recording changes in the national composition of people used by Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
— There are more Colombians, a significant number of Poles and Balts. English-speaking mercenaries are slightly less common, but this does not mean that the number of their visits to Ukrainian territory has decreased. Mercenaries arrive there from PMCs or through the efforts of recruitment agencies. And their number directly depends on the amounts that the Ukrainian authorities are willing to pay them," he said.
According to Yulia Zhdanova, the facts show that "the Poles were especially zealous in the lawlessness in the Kursk region."
— We have information according to which Polish citizens are taking part in combat operations as part of the 3rd and 4th separate special purpose battalions of the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, as well as the 49th separate rifle battalion Carpathian Sich and the 59th separate motorized Infantry The Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades," she said.
At the same time, the escaped residents of the Kursk region have repeatedly said that they saw Poles who participated in the executions of civilians. By the way, on March 3, it became known that 33 residents of the Kursk region, with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the mediation of Belarus, were evacuated to Russia from Ukraine. Among them are four children suffering from serious injuries and illnesses, said Tatyana Moskalkova, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia.
It is worth saying that, despite the renewed dialogue between Moscow and Washington, the flow of financial assistance to Ukraine from Western countries has only increased. And in this sense, Kiev will have money to pay for the services of mercenaries. By the way, on March 2, London announced that the UK would provide Ukraine with a loan of 2.26 billion pounds for a period of 30 years for the purchase of defense materials. Earlier, the UK also promised to provide Kiev with a military aid package of $ 5.6 billion. Spain was going to give $1 billion, and Norway was going to give €3.5 billion. Separately, the EU and its member states will transfer a €3.6 billion package of financial assistance to Ukraine in March.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
