Contingent movement: Pakistan to consider sending peacekeepers to Ukraine
Pakistan will consider its participation in the UN-sponsored peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if it is approved by the Security Council. This was stated to Izvestia by the Permanent Mission of Islamabad to the United Nations. Pakistan is one of the leading suppliers of troops to UN peacekeeping operations and a non—permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2025-2026. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the possibility of deploying NATO and EU peacekeepers to Ukraine. Whether sending non—Western contingents can become a compromise option for Russia and the West is in the Izvestia article.
Which countries can send peacekeepers to Ukraine
If the Security Council agrees on such a mandate, Pakistan will consider the possibility of participating in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the country's permanent mission to the United Nations told Izvestia. Pakistan is a non—permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2025-2026.
— Pakistan is one of the leading suppliers of troops to UN peacekeeping operations. At the moment, we have not considered the possibility of Pakistan's participation in a possible peacekeeping operation in Ukraine. This issue will be considered at the appropriate time, if such a mandate is agreed, they stressed.
Usually UN peacekeeping missions are deployed according to the following scheme. First, the parties to the conflict come to a peace agreement and appeal to the organization to send a peacekeeping contingent. This initiative must then be approved by the Security Council, which necessarily requires the consent of all five permanent members: Russia, China, the United States, Great Britain and France.
— The main stakeholders should receive a Security Council mandate to deploy a UN peacekeeping operation in Ukraine. But first they have to conclude a peace agreement. If it contains consent to the deployment of UN peacekeepers, it would be possible to request a Security Council mandate," the Permanent Mission of Pakistan explained to Izvestia.
The issue of the UN's participation in the settlement of the situation in Ukraine has been actively discussed since the very beginning of the conflict in 2014. At that time, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko took the initiative to introduce a contingent of the organization. In 2017, Russia supported the deployment of an international mission to Donbass, but on the condition that peacekeepers should be located only on the line of demarcation between Ukraine and the DPR and LPR. As a result, the mission was not sent.
If an agreement on the presence of peacekeepers on the territory of Ukraine is reached, they will be able to operate under the UN flag — this is a common practice. At the same time, peacekeepers should represent countries neutral in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, which are the majority in the world, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, told Izvestia. Pakistan has not openly supported any of the parties to the conflict since the beginning of its conflict.
How the UN sends troops to conflict zones
As stated to Izvestia in the permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, the topic of sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine is not currently being discussed in the organization. The UN secretariat declined to comment on this issue to Izvestia, forwarding it to the delegations of the UN member states.
No UN peacekeeping contingent can be deployed in Ukraine without Russia's consent, former Deputy Secretary General of the organization Sergei Ordzhonikidze tells Izvestia. In addition, the mission's mandate is crucial for its effectiveness.
— This may be a mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which gives peacekeepers the right to use armed forces, or it may be a mandate under Chapter VI, in which case it is simply a separation of the warring parties," the diplomat told Izvestia.
Usually, a peacekeeping contingent is needed to separate the parties to the conflict and observe the truce. Russia is not satisfied with a temporary solution, it is necessary to conclude a peace treaty. Therefore, there is no need to send a peacekeeping contingent, Ordzhonikidze believes.
If the UN Security Council approves the creation of a mission and defines its mandate, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations begins planning the necessary elements of a future mission. It is important that the UN does not have its own armed forces and the necessary supplies, all of which must be provided by the organization's member countries. The leaders in providing military contingents for peacekeeping missions as of 2024 include Nepal (6,123 people), Bangladesh (5,938), Rwanda (5,929), India (5,552), Pakistan (3,706). The top ten also includes Indonesia, Ghana, China, Morocco, and Egypt.
Currently, there are 11 peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations with different mandates: in self-proclaimed Kosovo, Cyprus, three in the Middle East, Sudan and South Sudan, in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, partially recognized Western Sahara and on the border of India and Pakistan. Since 1948, the United Nations has deployed over 70 peacekeeping missions, in which representatives from more than 120 countries have participated.
How does Russia feel about sending peacekeepers
The issue of sending foreign troops to Ukraine as a peacekeeping contingent began to be discussed again against the background of negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States. President of the United States Donald Trump noted that their deployment is necessary, but the format of the contingent should suit all parties.
France and Great Britain are actively promoting the idea of sending contingents from NATO countries to Ukraine. According to the President of the Fifth Republic, Emmanuel Macron, a coalition of European countries and Canada proposes to establish a truce for a month "in the air, at sea and around the energy infrastructure." Bloomberg wrote that then it is planned to deploy up to 30,000 soldiers in major cities, ports and critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.
At the same time, there is no consensus within NATO, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni replied that Rome doubts the effectiveness of this measure and therefore will not send its soldiers to Ukraine. Back in December last year, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that a peacekeeping mission should be sent from the UN, not the EU. In February, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico opposed the deployment of troops in Ukraine and its accession to NATO. Viktor Orban, the head of the Hungarian government, shares a similar opinion.
Russia is not considering any options for deploying European peacekeepers in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference following the Doha talks on February 26. The Foreign Minister stressed that the approach imposed by the Europeans, namely France and Britain, is aimed at further intensification of the conflict.
— Macron stated in Washington about the need for an urgent truce, the deployment of these peacekeeping forces, and then, they say, let's talk about territories, the fate of people, and other principles of settlement. This is guile. It is impossible to reach an agreement that is aimed at achieving a single goal - to pump Ukraine with weapons again," Sergey Lavrov stressed.
Russia's position is that the West has actually become a participant in the armed confrontation in Ukraine. The countries that are part of the Ramstein format supply weapons to Kiev, finance it, provide information support and wage an economic war against the Russian Federation. Therefore, they cannot be neutral states for participating in a peacekeeping mission, concluded Vladimir Shapovalov.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
