{"id":303663,"date":"2025-02-16T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T09:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=303663"},"modified":"2025-02-17T08:13:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T08:13:40","slug":"europe-quietly-works-on-a-plan-to-send-troops-to-ukraine-for-post-war-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=303663","title":{"rendered":"Europe quietly works on a plan to send troops to Ukraine for post-war security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lorne Cook \u2013 AP Feb 14, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Increasingly alarmed that U.S. security priorities lie elsewhere<\/a>, a group of European countries has been quietly working on a plan to send troops into Ukraine to help enforce any future peace settlement with Russia.<\/p>\n

Britain and France are at the forefront of the effort, though details remain scarce. The countries involved in the discussions are reluctant to tip their hand and give Russian President Vladimir Putin an edge should he agree to negotiate<\/a> an end to the war<\/a> he launched three years ago.<\/p>\n

What is clear is that Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs a guarantee that his country\u2019s security will be assured until peace takes hold. The best protection would be the NATO membership that Ukraine has long been promised, but the U.S. has taken that option off the table<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t get into the particular capabilities, but I do accept that if there is peace then there needs to be some sort of security guarantee for Ukraine and the U.K. will play its part in that,\u201d British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in cautious remarks on Thursday<\/p>\n

The Europeans began exploring what kind of force might be needed about a year ago, but the sense of urgency has grown amid concern that U.S. President Donald Trump might go over their heads<\/a>, and possibly even Ukraine\u2019s, to clinch a deal with Putin.<\/p>\n

Many questions remain unanswered but one stands out: what role, if any, might the United States play?<\/p>\n

European powers consider the road ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In December, after Trump was elected but before he took office, a group of leaders and ministers huddled with Zelenskyy at NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte\u2019s residence in Brussels. They came from Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Top European Union officials attended too.<\/p>\n

The talks built on an idea promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron in early 2024. At the time his refusal to rule out putting troops on the ground<\/a> in Ukraine prompted an outcry, notably from the leaders of Germany and Poland.<\/p>\n

Macron appeared isolated on the European stage, but his plan has gained traction since.<\/p>\n

Still, much about what the force might look like and who will take part will depend on the terms of any peace settlement, and more.<\/p>\n

Italy has constitutional limits on the use of its forces. The Netherlands would need a greenlight from its parliament, as would Germany, whose position could evolve after the Feb. 23 elections usher in a new government. Poland is cautious, given lingering animosities with Ukraine that date from World War II.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a very early stage,\u201d Hanno Pevklur, Estonia\u2019s defense minister told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.<\/p>\n

While there are various ongoing discussions and rumors, it is \u201ccritical\u201d for European allies to understand what the contact line in Ukraine will look like before coming up with a plan, Pevkur said.<\/p>\n

If Russia and Ukraine reduce their forces along the front line to a \u201ccouple of thousand\u201d on both sides, then \u201cit\u2019s not a problem for Europe to also be there,\u201d Pevkur said, pointing out that it would be much harder if there is still a \u201cboiling conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

A robust security force rather than peacekeepers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The makeup and role of the force will be dictated by the kind of peace deal that\u2019s reached. If Russia and Ukraine can agree terms as the negotiations progress, it\u2019s plausible that fewer security precautions and a smaller force would be needed.<\/p>\n

But experts and officials warn that, as things stand, the Europeans must deploy a robust and sizeable contingent, rather than a team of peacekeepers like United Nations \u201cblue helmets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be a real force (so) that the Russians know that if they ever tested it that they would get crushed. And you can be sure that Russia will test it,\u201d Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe, said last month at a European Policy Centre think tank event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey violate every single agreement. So if we send a force in there, they\u2019ve got to have airpower, large land forces, drones, counter-drones, air and missile defense. All of that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they go in there with a bunch of blue helmets and rifles, they will get crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France\u2019s military mission at the United Nations, agreed that U.N. peacekeepers are better suited \u201cfor deployment in zones that are far more stable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor starters, mounting this operation with soldiers taken from across the world would take about a year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There also needs to be training of Ukrainian soldiers and investment in Ukraine\u2019s defense industry, Latvia Defense Minister Andris Spr\u016bds told the AP.<\/p>\n

How big a force?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The nature of the peace deal will determine the size and location of the European contingent. Zelenskyy has insisted on at least 100,000 to 150,000 troops. Media reports have speculated about a 30,000-40,000 strong force. Diplomats and officials have not confirmed either figure.<\/p>\n

Ukraine also wants air support, not just boots on the ground.<\/p>\n

What is clear is that the Europeans would struggle to muster a large-scale force, and certainly could not do it quickly.<\/p>\n

In an interview on Friday with the Financial Times, Macron said that the idea of deploying a huge force is \u201cfar-fetched.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do things that are appropriate, realistic, well thought, measured and negotiated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted this week on \u201crobust international oversight of the line of contact,\u201d a reference to the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) long front line. The Europeans are reluctant as that would require too many troops.<\/p>\n

Nearly all agree that some kind of \u201cAmerican backstop\u201d is essential. European armed forces have long relied on superior U.S. logistics, air transport and other military capabilities.<\/p>\n

The U.S. lays down some rules<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At NATO headquarters on Wednesday, Hegseth began describing<\/a> the terms under which the U.S. might agree to a force that would help provide Ukraine with the \u201crobust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,\u201d Hegseth told almost 50 of Ukraine\u2019s Western backers. If they go to Ukraine, he said, \u201cthey should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin has said that he launched the invasion in part due to NATO territory expanding too close to Russia\u2019s borders and is unlikely to accept any operation run by the world\u2019s biggest military organization.<\/p>\n

Any European allies taking part would not benefit from NATO\u2019s collective security guarantee if they were attacked, Hegseth said. He underlined that \u201cthere will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did not reveal what role the U.S. might play.<\/p>\n

From Ukraine\u2019s perspective, a Europe-only operation simply would not work. \u201cAny security guarantees are impossible without the Americans,\u201d Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned Thursday.<\/p>\n

Source\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to shifting U.S. defence priorities, European nations are now considering deploying troops to Ukraine as a security force rather than combatants. France and Britain would likely be at the forefront of any such intervention <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[91,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-russia","category-ukraine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=303663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303664,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303663\/revisions\/303664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=303663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=303663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=303663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}