The hypothesis of an international peace force in Ukraine, to be deployed in case of achieving an agreement that leads to the end of the conflict, seems more and more concrete. The French president Emmanuel Macron was among the first to hypothesize the thing and also received the green light from the American president Donald Trump, who, after their meeting in Washington, said she also talked about it with Vladimir Putin and that this Last “would have no problems” to accept it.
Italy could also be part of the contingent, even if for the moment the government seems to close the hypothesis, with the vice premier Matteo Salvini who says that “talking about it now does not make sense”.
The strength of peace
The United Kingdom and France would already be working on a plan for the deployment of 30 thousand European soldiers in Ukraine in the event that Moscow and Kiev reach the fire. For Italy, the first hypotheses speak of a possible contribution of 3,500 soldiers, but without the use of heavy vehicles.
However, the European proposal would require Trump’s commitment to accept a limited role for the United States to protect European troops in case of danger. According to a reconstruction of the Wall Street Journal, the US should play a role of ‘backstop’, or of safety pillow, and the British premier Keir Starmer should speak of the matter, who will be at the White House tomorrow. The US guarantee would be necessary because 30 thousand soldiers are a negligible figure if we consider the power of Russia.
Italy skeptical
“There has never been an international interposition force between two armies of this reach. From both sides there are more than a million armed soldiers and I don’t see well what the power of interposition is between these two armies,” he did Note the Italian Undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari.
“Talking about sending Italian soldiers to the ground of war today does not make sense, I don’t even arise to say who and how. First Putin and Zelensky have to lay down weapons and then we will think everything about,” said Salvini. “Nobody asked us for a soldier. When they ask us, we will talk about it. We already have thousands of Italian soldiers around the world, before sending others I would be very cautious,” he added.
“If you have to create a neutral area, there must be soldiers under UN mandate, not NATO, the European Union or in general of the West,” said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. In that case, it should then be understood if it would be a Peace-Enforcement or Peacekeeping force. Peace-enforcement, that is, the imposition of peace, implies that the latter should be imposed by the force of weapons, while peacekeeping, the maintenance of peace, presupposes that Russia and Ukraine accept to cease hostilities and that The UN send a force just to guarantee it.
The UE Summit
But at the moment it is early to talk about these details. “This question is not at all on the table,” the German chancellor in pectore, the conservative leader Friedrich Merz, has cut for now short. However, the theme will be discussed in a summit summoned to London for next Sunday, in which Starmer will also make a report with the European allies of the discussions with Trump. EU leaders will then discuss Ukraine, and therefore also of a possible peace mission in case of ceased fire, in an extraordinary summit convened for March 6th.
