A peacekeeping assignment should bring about an escalation of the war, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has stated
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has warned EU countries to avoid making a hasty decision to send a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. He was speaking at a conference on defense cooperation in Tallinn, where tensions between Moscow and Kiev were at the center of the agenda.
Some EU leaders earlier floated the idea of possibly undertaking peace negotiations in Ukraine after peace with Russia was reached. But according to Stubb, peacekeeping is not currently a realistic option, as the consequences could be huge and would require hundreds of thousands of troops
“We must not get ahead of ourselves,” Stubb warned before talks began Tuesday, as quoted by the Finnish newspaper Yle . The peacekeeping mission is based on international law and requires peace settlement and UN mandate, he said.
“You can’t start an operation on a shaky foundation,” he added.
According to the Finnish prime minister, the peace operation will require at least 150,000 troops.
“In exchange, that means three times that or 450,000 peacekeepers a year. So perhaps this discussion can be said to have gone off the rails,” he added.
Stubb was speaking at a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) meeting. The contingent includes the Netherlands, Iceland, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The Northern Five border Russia and are among the most outspoken critics of Moscow and its military activities in Ukraine.
Before the meeting, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that “no option can be accepted” even before peace in Ukraine, according to Yle.
At a summit of EU leaders on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron plans to raise the issue of a UN peacekeeping mission to Ukraine under the ceasefire and peace agreement, various media outlets reported last week . . . .