Talking about peacekeepers: The mission cannot do without Russia, so we need to act under other agreements with countries

Ukraine does not need peacekeepers under a United Nations mandate because of possible Russian interference. What is needed is a coalition of forces that will work on the basis of existing security agreements with allied countries. This was stated in an interview with LIGA.net by diplomat and former Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States in 2015-2019 Valeriy Chaly.

According to him, "hundreds of thousands" of people will be needed to deploy peacekeepers to the 1500 km "buffer zone".

"Hundreds of thousands of people who will run away from the first mortar shot because they have such a mandate, not because they are weak. And the pay is good," Chaly said .

According to him, the peacekeeping mission could include military personnel from any country, even those who voted against Ukraine during the resolution. He did not rule out that it could even include Belarusians.

"Russia will put anything in there. It won't happen without Russia. This is all a system through the UN mandate. And we have the right to a coalition of forces that do not need any UN mandate. And they should not be called peacekeepers," emphasized Chaly .

He noted that Ukraine has deeper preliminary agreements with its allies that cover military cooperation. As an example, Chaly cited Poland, which, according to the current agreement, has the right to send military instructors to Ukraine.

"The Americans can fight with F16s and the French can fight with Rafales. That is, they can help at airfields, at military facilities. Everything can be done," he said .

• on April 30, The Times reported that Europe would find it difficult to raise 25,000 peacekeepers to send to Ukraine.
• On May 11, Macron spoke about the number of foreign fighters for Ukraine. According to him, it is a matter of several thousand, but not several hundred thousand.
• On May 20, it was reported that Belgium would send troops to Ukraine as part of a "coalition of the willing" immediately after the ceasefire.
• On May 21, Tusk denied that Poland would send troops to Ukraine. They are needed for other purposes.
• Romania's new president considers it "inappropriate" to send troops to Ukraine.