The British Prime Minister would be ready to send peacekeepers to Ukraine. Researcher Joel Linnainmäki considers the opening significant, but there are several problems.
Today, European leaders gather in Paris to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Under the meeting on Sunday British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote In the Daily Telegraph magazinethat the country is ready to send peacekeepers to Ukraine, if necessary, after the agreement to end the war has been concluded.
The opening of Starmer about sending peacekeepers to Ukraine is significant but not completely without problems, says researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy Joel Linnainmäki In the morning of the above.
– The problem is, first of all, when it comes to peacekeeping, the UN Peace Security operation comes to mind. There will hardly be a question of such, but the forces that would be sent should be fightable, Linnainmäki estimates.
The United States has stated that this would not be a NATO operation.
– Of course, it raises pretty big questions about how European states would work if the war came on again. Would we send [Ukrainaan] More troops?
The British opening did not completely have the club. Monday Swedish magazine Aftonbladet The news that the Swedish government would not exclude the possibility of sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, as long as sustainable peace has been obtained. Even in Norway, the idea is not completely knocked out.
Can Britain take the lead in supporting Ukraine?
In his exit, Starmer says that Britain is ready to take on a leading role in work to ensure Ukrainian security guarantees.
EPN-UK correspondent Kirsi Crowley says in the morning that British army leadership is critical of Starmer’s announcement.
The criticism is based on the miserable condition of the army. Sending up to 10,000 soldiers to peacekeeping troops would be really difficult for Britain, according to the army leadership.
According to Linnainmäki, Britain’s domestic policy situation is currently the most stable of big European countries. It is now easier to demonstrate leadership than Germany or France, which has enough to do with their own internal policy.
However, Linnimäki estimates that sending troops to Ukraine would be out of NATO’s joint defense, as the number of troops is limited in Europe and also in the UK. At the same time, NATO’s intimidation and defense should be taken care of.
-Of course, the United Kingdom is a major military power in Europe, although they have shortcomings in their own capabilities. They alone are unable to resolve this situation.
Paris is expected to have common interests in Europe
The agenda of today’s Paris meeting is the situation in Ukraine and the US claims for Europe as far as Ukraine is concerned.
The researchers who visited EPN in the morning are waiting for some uniform policies from the meeting.
Professor of international politics Tuomas Forsberg The University of Tampere estimates that Paris hardly produces very concrete figures and ready -made answers.
– It is difficult to say how concrete promises, for example, of European security guarantees or peacekeeping operations, can be made on the table so quickly.
According to Forsberg, Europeans should have been able to better anticipate the situation.
– There should be some skills to work faster. Now, even in this situation, we have to improvise quite a bit and there is no preparedness for quick action, Forsberg says.
In addition to the British Starmer, the Paris meeting will attend at least representatives of Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.
The chairman of the European Commission has also been invited Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.