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Qasry Ehsan
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Report: European States Reconsidering Troop Deployment in Ukraine

European nations supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Russia are shifting away from the idea of deploying troops to the country, The Financial Times reported.
The claim is based on public statements from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who this week hosted military planners from 31 countries, as well as insider accounts of the discussions on how European nations could approach the end of hostilities.Russia has insisted that it will not tolerate troops from NATO countries in Ukraine, regardless of how such a mission is branded by the US-led military bloc. Proponents such as UK leader Starmer have advocated for a so-called “peacekeeping force” to oversee a potential ceasefire.The FT described a “noticeable shift from European ground troops to air and sea patrols” during a recent phone call regarding Western strategy, citing a participant in the discussion. Additionally, Starmer has reportedly acknowledged that the US will not provide a military “backstop” for any mission in Ukraine, as was publicly stated by the administration of President Donald Trump.Trump aims to transfer responsibility for Ukrainian security to European NATO members after negotiating a truce with Russia, asserting that the US and NATO should play no role in future arrangements.
Meanwhile, the EU faces challenges in replacing US military assistance for Kiev. Member states failed to reach an agreement on Thursday concerning €40 billion ($43 billion) in additional military aid for Ukraine, a proposal pushed by the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. A less ambitious plan to allocate €5 billion ($5.4 billion) to supply 2 million artillery shells reportedly remains stuck in diplomatic limbo.Meantime, French President Emmanuel Macron is considering using the United Nations to get European boots on the ground in Ukraine, The Telegraph has reported. The plan, primarily led by Paris and London, has repeatedly been opposed by Moscow.France and the UK have been promoting a “coalition of the willing” among NATO and EU states to send a purported peacekeeping force to Ukraine in the event of a possible peace deal between Moscow and Kiev.According to the Telegraph, during a European Council summit on Thursday attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Macron raised the idea of a UN-led peacekeeping mission.Russia has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of a Western peacekeeping force being deployed to Ukraine, noting that the only way such a mission could potentially be justified would be through a UN mandate. However, given that such a mission would have to be approved by the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member, its prospects “appear to be slim", the Telegraph noted.
On Thursday, Starmer also hosted some senior military leaders from the “coalition of the willing” to discuss the troop deployment plans, after which he announced that the group was moving into an “operational phase”. He did not clarify how many countries have actually agreed to participate or how they intend to implement the plan.At least two EU and NATO members - Italy and Hungary - have already rejected the Franco-British proposal. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has stressed that the issue of sending her country’s troops to Ukraine has “never been on the agenda” and described the plan as a “very complex, risky and ineffective operation".Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has previously argued that the deployment of NATO military personnel, even under the guise of peacekeepers, would amount to the “direct, official, undisguised involvement of NATO countries in the war against Russia”. He has also accused France and the UK of trying to fuel tensions in Ukraine in order to disrupt attempts at resolving the conflict.#Ukraine#Russia
09:44 - 22 مارس 2025
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