President Vladimir Putin’s weekend message to European talk of peacekeepers was quick and brutal. It came in more than 800 drones and 13 missiles, the largest Russian drone attack since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Many drones were shot down by Ukrainian defences, but for the first time, they reached Kyiv’s administrative heart, striking government buildings.
On Thursday in Paris the 26 countries of the “coalition of the willing” had pledged “the day after a ceasefire or peace” to deploy troops in Ukraine as a “reassurance force” to oversee and guarantee a peace agreement. It was an important expression of stepped-up solidarity with Kyiv, although details were not elaborated and none has said how many troops they might provide.
Just as importantly, the summit was intended to put it up to US president Donald Trump that he must do more than express platitudes about a mission which he notionally supports but whose credibility as a deterrent force will ultimately depend on US air cover.
Trump’s non-committal response when called in by phone on the discussion was confined to calling for increased European economic sanctions on Russia. So far he has confined the US to secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil, although he did say last month that the US is open to a “coordinating” role to help a European-led security mission in post-war Ukraine. He has hinted he might provide air support, but not peacekeepers.
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Putin’s response was belligerent: missiles and a reiteration of Russian opposition to any foreign troops on Ukrainian soil. Any deployment, he warned, would be regarded as a “hostile intervention” which could result in an uncontrolled escalation with unpredictable consequences.” “If some military forces start appearing there, “Putin declared, “especially now, while the fighting is ongoing, we will consider them legitimate targets to destroy.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, speaking after the summit, reaffirmed a promise to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this week that “Ireland is open to participating in an appropriately mandated mission of this kind”.
With Russia determinedly opposed to any peacekeeping force and certain to block a supporting UN resolution, however, the promise may be difficult to keep. The “appropriate mandate” would be dependent on the Government’s ability to pass its controversial legislation repealing the “triple lock” that requires a UN mandate for overseas troop deployment. The bill is on the Dáil agenda for this autumn.
Ireland has a proud record in peacekeeping and how this should be continued will be central to the debate to come.
