Dutch foreign minister: Too early to speculate about peacekeeping mission in Ukraine

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has said that it was too early to speculate on a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.

The minister was asked about a possible European peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.

"It is too early to speculate about that," Veldkamp said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Nevertheless, he noted that Ukraine's readiness for a diplomatic settlement with Russia is important.

"Well, President Zelenskyy has spoken about a diplomatic solution in 2025. I think it’s very important that between now and the moment that he believes negotiations could start – we don’t know about Putin, but… – that Ukraine is fully supported, and that means military support, that means support in the field of energy, energy infrastructure, and it also means financial support," he explained.

Commenting on a possible peacekeeping mission, European chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said that peace must be achieved before sending peacekeepers, and Russia is not currently showing the will to do so.

Earlier, the media reported that possible formats for ending the war and the potential creation of a European peacekeeping mission in Ukraine will be the topics of discussion at a meeting of Western leaders in Brussels.

Radio Liberty has learned from sources that French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to raise the issue of deploying a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire and peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia at the EU leaders' summit on 18-19 December.

Nevertheless, the sources noted that the topic of peacekeepers is very new and remains at the level of an idea.