Presence of peacekeepers in Ukraine is de facto accession to NATO - Expert
Illustrative photo: the presence of peacekeepers in Ukraine would mean the de facto accession of the country to NATO (Getty Images)
If NATO countries sent their troops to the line of demarcation in Ukraine, the country would de facto become an Alliance member, states diplomat and advisor to the National Institute for Strategic Studies Andrii Veselovskyi in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
"If it were clearly agreed upon and there was Russia's consent for NATO troops to be present at the line of demarcation after a ceasefire is reached, that would be our de facto accession to NATO," believes Veselovskyi.
He noted that, in this case, Ukraine would be defended by NATO troops.
"If there is consent from the Kremlin, what problems are there? They could remain there as long as it takes until we become NATO members. Why not? But it's unclear who would pay for this. But that's another issue," the expert added.
Sending peacekeepers to Ukraine
The idea of deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron last year. He also suggested training the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Ukrainian territory.
However, most EU and NATO countries are currently not ready to send their peacekeepers to Ukraine.
In particular, the German Minister of Defense stated that Berlin is open to discussing this idea, but only on the condition that Russia agrees to it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the introduction of peacekeepers is one of the best tools to force Russia to peace.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Zelenskyy mentioned the need for 200,000 peacekeepers to ensure stable peace in Ukraine.
Later, he clarified that the number of peacekeepers could be either higher or lower, depending on the size of the Ukrainian army.
