ROME, March 24. /TASS/. Europe's talk about sending a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine is "shallow," an empty attempt to try to exert its now defunct influence, Gianandrea Gaiani, military analyst and editor-in-chief of the Analisi Difesa news website told TASS.
According to him, the very idea of putting NATO troops in Ukraine runs contrary to the notion of peace. Meanwhile, in the case of organizing a UN-led mission, this would have to be approved by a respective Security Council resolution, something that cannot be done without Russia's consent. "Ukraine and Europe are emerging as the losers in this conflict and will pay a certain price: Ukraine will give up territory and surrender rare metals, while Europe is already paying by buying more expensive gas and then will be purchasing weapons from the US. With all this talk about sending troops to Ukraine, Europe is trying to throw its weight around, not knowing that it has completely lost it. All discussions about the mission are shallow and meaningless," the expert said.
He also noted that if Vladimir Zelensky requests that Western forces be deployed to Ukraine, this is a sign that he does not want peace. "Because: you either make peace, and then no military assistance is needed, or you involve NATO and continue fighting," he added. The expert believes that Russia's conditions cannot be disregarded given the current situation. "And Russia’s primary condition is no NATO forces in Ukraine," he recalled.
The military analyst also pointed out that up to 200,000 military personnel would be needed to monitor the long border. "Actually, closer to 600,000 considering that they would need to be rotated. Simply put, no country has such reserves and no one will provide them," he emphasized.
Zelensky earlier said that Ukraine does not see the placement of UN peacekeepers on its soil as a viable alternative to military assistance from partner nations or security guarantees.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on March 12 that the presence of NATO troops under any flag, in any capacity, on Ukrainian soil is a threat to Russia. According to him, Moscow will not accept this under any circumstances.