Europe is softening its stance on sending peacekeepers. And here's why

Times: "Coalition of the Willing" has revised plans to send peacekeepers to Ukraine

After the failure of the negotiations in London, Western countries that declared their readiness to send their peacekeepers to Ukraine, also known as the "coalition of the willing," are losing their enthusiasm. The distancing of the United States and the weak involvement of the coalition members themselves played a role in this. Why sending European peacekeepers to Ukraine is unlikely is in the Izvestia article.

• The "Coalition of the Willing" unites about 30 countries, primarily European ones, which allow their forces to participate in a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. France and the United Kingdom are coordinating this gathering. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the creation of such an international format in March 2025. At the same time, at the summit in Paris on March 27, Britain and France promised to send their troops to Ukraine. According to the Europeans, such a step should ensure a ceasefire.

• However, not all members of the association agree with sending their people to Ukraine. Some countries want to get Washington's consent. Others, in particular Warsaw, are ready to help their coalition colleagues "from a distance". Thus, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski clarified that the country would not send its troops, but would "provide support" to the rest.

There are also attempts to resume dialogue with Russia in order to prevent an imminent escalation in Ukraine. For example, Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested starting negotiations with Moscow. The Russian Federation replied that they were open to restoring relations with Helsinki.

• The fact that not all members of the "coalition" have a decisive attitude is also supported by the fact that on April 10, only six countries publicly confirmed their readiness to send troops to Ukraine — Great Britain, France and the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). The sixth state was not named. All this calls into question the realism of such a mission.

• European countries are delaying the possible date of sending troops. And there are a number of good reasons for this. In particular, if this mission is sent to Ukraine, the situation will escalate. Russia has repeatedly warned that sending military or "peacekeepers" who will increase Ukraine's combat readiness could lead to World War III. The Russian side is confident that the real goal of the Europeans is to establish control over Ukrainian territory.

• The Kremlin is confident that the peacekeepers sent will in fact be "NATO forces and means on the territory of Ukraine." And one of the primary reasons for the beginning of the SVR was to prevent this. Therefore, Moscow strongly opposes this idea, emphasizing that foreign peacekeepers will become a legitimate military target for Russia.

• European countries are delaying sending their troops to the conflict zone, realizing the risks of the situation. If troops come under fire, countries will have to react. Then the "coalition of the willing" and all NATO countries will automatically find themselves on the verge of conflict with Russia.

• Traditionally, the United States has been the financial and military locomotive of the EU and NATO. The Americans provided money, equipment, intelligence, and logistics. But the events of recent days have shown that Washington can withdraw from the negotiation process on Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the White House wants to see clear signs that a deal is possible. However, negotiations in London were disrupted shortly after this statement. According to Western agencies, on the eve of the meeting, Kiev provided a document according to which the Ukrainian side would not negotiate on the territories before an agreement on a "complete and unconditional cease-fire" was reached.

• Without the possible support of the United States, the "coalition of the willing" turned into a "coalition of the doubters." Washington is still the command post of the entire Western security system. Without the participation of the American side, everyone starts a race for leadership, and instead of a clear plan, a round dance of disparate ambitions turns out.

• At the same time, according to American media reports, the White House is preparing a plan that analyzes the possibility of creating a "joint commission" to monitor the observance of the ceasefire on the line of contact. According to the idea of the Americans, it could include the Russian and Ukrainian military, as well as representatives of third countries, including those who are not members of NATO. The United States could potentially participate in this mission, but only in terms of funding. However, the specific outlines of the initiative have not yet been officially announced.

• UN peacekeepers need the approval of the Security Council, but Russia has the right of veto. From a legal point of view, the alternative mission proposed by European countries can be considered as a military intervention. According to European diplomatic sources, when sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, we are not talking about soldiers or "blue helmets." The European contingent will only "observe and monitor". At the same time, there is no clear mission concept.

During the preparation of the material, Izvestia interviewed:

• Denis Denisov, Director of the Institute of Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology;
• political scientist Yuri Svetov.

Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»

https://en.iz.ru/en/1876489/2025-04-25/europe-softening-its-stance-sending-peacekeepers-and-heres-why

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump met at the Vatican ahead of Pope Francis's funeral - their first face-to-face encounter since February's acrimonious Oval Office showdown.

The pair were pictured locked in deep discussion, minutes before the late pontiff's funeral was due to start.

The White House described the 15-minute meeting in St Peter's Basilica as "very productive" and Zelensky later called it "very symbolic" with the "potential to become historic".

After leaving Rome later in the day, Trump took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioning his willingness to end the war after Moscow's strikes on Kyiv earlier this week.

• Live updates: World leaders in Rome for Pope's funeral
• Pope Francis' funeral is chance for 'brush-by' diplomacy

Posting on his social media account, Trump said there was "no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas", adding: "It makes me think that maybe he [Putin] doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?'"

He had previously said Russia and Ukraine were "very close to a deal" following Friday's talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president. 

The Kremlin meanwhile said on Saturday that Putin had confirmed to Witkoff Russia's readiness to enter into direct talks with Ukraine "without preconditions".

Trump and Zelensky's sit down in Rome was the first time the leaders had come face-to-face since their White House meeting at the end of February, when Trump told Zelensky "you don't have the cards" and he was not winning against Russia.

He repeated that message this week, saying the Ukrainian leader had "no cards to play". Trump has previously blamed Ukraine for starting the war and has accused Zelensky multiple times of being an obstacle to peace negotiations. 

But the White House struck a more positive tone about Saturday's meeting, while Zelensky described the sit down as a "very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results".

Two images were released of the meeting, showing the US leader in a blue suit and Ukrainian president in a black top and trousers, sitting opposite each other in intense conversation.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also posted an image of the meeting on X with the caption: "No words are needed to describe the importance of this historic meeting. Two leaders working for peace in St. Peter's Basilica."

Another image posted by the Ukrainian delegation from inside St Peter's showed the two men standing alongside British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and France's Emmanuel Macron, his hand on Zelensky's shoulder. 

The implication was that the prime minister and French president had helped to bring the two together, against the sombre backdrop of the funeral.

After the meeting, Trump and Zelensky walked down the steps of the basilica, where Zelensky's arrival was met with applause from the crowds, and took their seats in the front row.

During the service, the pair sat a short distance from each other, with Macron and other heads of state in between.

In his homily, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re spoke of Pope Francis's incessant calls for peace. "'Build bridges, not walls' was an exhortation he repeated many times," said the cardinal.

Ukrainian officials had talked of a possible second meeting but Trump's motorcade drove away from St Peter's immediately afterwards and his plane left Rome a short time later.

Zelensky, however, later met Macron in the garden of Villa Bonaparte, home to the French embassy to the Holy See. 

He also met Sir Keir at Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassador's residence, as well as holding separate talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

In a post on X, Macron said ending the war in Ukraine was an objective that "we share in common with President Trump", adding that Ukraine was ready for "an unconditional ceasefire".

A Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer and Zelensky discussed the positive progress that had been made recently to "secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine," adding that the pair had agreed to "maintain momentum" and "speak again at the earliest opportunity".

During February's heated White House exchange, Trump accused the Ukrainian president of "gambling with World War Three" by not going along with ceasefire plans led by Washington.

Kyiv has been on the receiving end of growing pressure from Trump to accept territorial concessions as part of an agreement with Moscow to end the war.

These concessions would reportedly include giving up large portions of land, including the Crimean peninsula which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea in the past. He suggested to the BBC on Friday that "a full and unconditional ceasefire opens up the possibility to discuss everything".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8gpdj704mo

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.