Ukraine: UN awaits talks on potential peacekeeping mission

The Under-Secretary-General for the UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, on Tuesday said the United Nations is awaiting talks on a potential peacekeeping mission for Ukraine, stating that no such mission is yet planned.

Lacroix said he expected discussions on deploying UN peacekeepers to monitor a possible future ceasefire, stressing that a ceasefire agreement and a mandate from the UN Security Council would be necessary before concrete planning could begin.

He said this would also require Russia’s agreement.

According to him, currently, the scenario remains hypothetical, adding that monitoring a ceasefire would not guarantee security.

Meanwhile, a group of European nations, calling themselves the “coalition of the willing,”; recently discussed a multi-layered security concept for monitoring a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.

The plan includes monitoring a possible demilitarised zone along the Russia-Ukraine border, primarily from the air using satellites and drones.

Naval units may also be deployed to oversee freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.

A true UN peacekeeping force, consisting solely of soldiers from impartial third countries, could be mobilised.

European forces might also be stationed on Ukraine’s western border, offering training programmes for Ukrainian partners, while the U.S. would serve as the overarching security guarantor.

These plans emerged after U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

However, European leaders are concerned that such an agreement could lead to Ukraine making major concessions without credible security guarantees, leaving it vulnerable to further Russian attacks.

France and Britain, along with other Ukraine-supporting countries, are working on a security guarantees plan, which will be finalised at a summit of the “coalition of the willing”; in Paris on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to attend the summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.