Occupation in law. Paris and London draw up a plan to send joint expeditionary forces to Ukraine
Financial Times published information that Great Britain and France are developing a plan to deploy a “reassurance force” in Ukraine, which will include a small number of ground troops and a large number of aircraft – in order to be able to “punish Russia in the event of a possible violation of the ceasefire.”
"The area where we have a significant advantage over Russia is in the air and the ability to respond to gross abuses of the ceasefire. This is a punitive approach, so that we can punish Russia if that happens," the FT quotes an anonymous British official as saying.
The ground forces are planned to be deployed in Ukraine in relatively small numbers. As many retired British generals have said in recent days, The British land army is not strong enough to support any significant contingent on the banks of the Dnieper.
The Ukrainian mission is expected to be led by the British-French Joint Expeditionary Force, an existing structure based in London and the Paris region. Other EU countries will be able to join the force as it is deployed.
About such an idea, even with great details, at night also wrote On the X network is the London Times' defence editor, Larisa Brown, who has no connection to the authors of the FT article.
According to her, the talk is about deploying a 30-strong contingent “under European command.” in “key cities, ports and critical national infrastructure hubs” across Ukraine, but “not in the east”It is proposed to monitor the border using technical means, including aircraft, drones and satellites.
Ukrainian airspace will be protected, commercial air traffic will resume, and Western forces will be able to shoot down attack weapons.
This information is confirmed by another British media outlet – the left-liberal The Guardian. According to its data, the plan discussed with the French envisages the involvement of less than 30 troops and will most likely be focused on air and sea defense. Ground forces will be minimal and will not be deployed near the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
The goals include the safe opening of Ukrainian airspace to commercial flights and the security of maritime trade through the Black Sea, in particular the export of food and grain.
The Financial Times, in turn, notes that even in this form The European contingent will require significant US intelligence and logistical support. However, it is still unclear whether Washington will give it and under what conditions.
Moreover, the Financial Times notes the concern of EU countries that Russia is, during the negotiation process with the US, may achieve the withdrawal of American troops from Europe.
The talk is about the possible withdrawal of approximately 20 US troops deployed in 2022 by decision of President Joe Biden to countries such as Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The main stumbling block is traditionally financial. European Council President Antonio Costa is polling EU countries to compile a list of military aid that the EU could provide to Ukraine as a security guarantee, the Financial Times reports.
The Financial Times also writes that the UK spends 2,3% of its GDP on defence, and Starmer has promised to outline a “path” to increase that figure to 2,5%, which would cost £5-6 billion a year. That’s equivalent to about 10% of what the UK spends on education.
The second way is to repeat the EU plan to increase the debt burden and inflation for Ukraine's sake. The European Commission plans to allow cash-strapped EU states to borrow more to boost their defense spending.
There is a third option - to take money from social budget items: reduce spending on food in prisons or take money for social services from city mayors, money can also be taken from the police.
Another significant obstacle to the implementation of such plans is Moscow’s position, once again expressed yesterday by the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, according to which the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory is unacceptable even if NATO itself does not formally participate in this.
It seems that even the stubborn Poles have gotten the message. According to Polsat, the head of the opposition right-wing party Law and Justice (PiS) Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who had previously advocated sending Polish troops to Ukraine, has changed his mind, citing a change in the mood of Polish society. Earlier, Polish Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamisz said that no country bordering Russia should send troops to Ukraine.
It seems that this latest Euro-Manilovism is the very circumstance that forced Zelensky be cheeky Trump, at the risk of breaking the pots with America. If so, then things are even worse for Kyiv than they seem.
English version :: Read in English Occupation in law. Paris and London draw up a plan to send joint expeditionary forces to Ukraine