Poland Calls for NATO ‘Peacekeeping Mission’ In Ukraine During Leader’s Trip to Kyiv

Poland
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Peter Caddle

Poland’s de facto leader has called for NATO to launch a “peacekeeping mission” in Ukraine during a trip to the country’s capital of Kyiv (Kiev).

Poland’s government appears open to putting NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine, with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, calling for the military bloc to establish a “peacekeeping mission” in the war-torn country.

Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) from which President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki are drawn, made the comments while on a trip to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, which is currently under threat from invading Russian forces.

According to a report by Der Spiegel, the Deputy Prime Minister said the mission should be established in order to provide “humanitarian and peaceful aid” within the country, should the Ukrainian president approve of the operation.

“I think that it is necessary to have a peace mission — NATO, possibly some wider international structure — but a mission that will be able to defend itself, which will operate on Ukrainian territory,” Kaczynski is reported as saying.

Other members of NATO were far less enthusiastic about the possibility of such a mission, with the chance of kicking off the third world war being cited as one reason many consider the move a bad idea.

“No NATO personnel, no NATO soldiers should be sent outside NATO or to Ukraine,” said one German government spokesman, according to Die Welt, who emphasised that there could be no clear distinction made between a “humanitarian aid mission, a rescue mission” and a “combat mission”.

The spokesman also noted that Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz had made that position “clear in the past” and that it should be seen as a “red line” issue.

This sentiment seemed to be shared by Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren, who said that any such mission would be difficult considering the circumstances.

“A peacekeeping mission is difficult as long as the war is still ongoing,” Ollongren reportedly said, clarifying that such a plan could be discussed if there was a ceasefire and Russia had withdrawn troops from the region.

Kaczynski, a 72-year-old bachelor, is regarded by many as having a particular antipathy towards the Russian government, suspecting the Kremlin was complicit in the Smolensk air disaster of 2010, in which his twin brother President Lech Kaczynski perished.

As Poland seeks to bring about a NATO military intervention in Ukraine, the Ukrainian president has once again asked for the United States and its allies to implement a so-called “no-fly zone” over the war-torn country.

“Is it a lot to ask for, to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people?” asked Volodymyr Zelensky rhetorically during an address to the U.S. Congress.

“Is this too much to ask, a humanitarian no-fly zone, so that Russia would not be able to terrorize our free cities?”

“If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative,” he continued. “You know what kind of defence systems we need, S-300 and other similar systems. You know how much of the battlefield depends on the ability to use aircraft.”

“We know that they exist. You have them. But they are not in the Ukrainian sky,” Zelensky added, requesting the U.S. send aircraft and anti-air defence systems.

While these requests Zelensky made of the US government were no doubt of sizable magnitude, they were far from the biggest ask the Ukrainian president made of Congress.

That distinction fell to his call to establish an international organisation titled U24, or United for Peace, a replacement for NATO which would supposedly be able to stop global wars as soon as they start.

“We propose to create an association, U24, United for Peace – a union of responsible countries that have the strength and conscience to stop conflicts immediately, to provide all the necessary assistance in 24 hours, even weapons if necessary,” he said.

“In addition, such a union could provide assistance to those who are experiencing natural disasters, man-made disasters, who fall victim to humanitarian crises or epidemics,” he suggested.

While it remains unclear what U.S. lawmakers will make of this request, the White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden will be travelling to Europe next week for a face-to-face NATO summit in Brussels, during which an in-person meeting with Zelensky is said to possibly be on the cards.

No confirmation has been given by American authorities at this time, however.

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