Britain and France have both said that they were willing to send a peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire in Ukraine. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country was also open to requests.
“It does not matter under what label NATO contingents were to be deployed on Ukrainian territory: be it the European Union, NATO, or in a national capacity,” Grushko said.
“If they appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict.”
Grushko said that a deployment of unarmed post-conflict observers can be discussed only once a peace agreement is worked out.
“We can talk about unarmed observers, a civilian mission that would monitor the implementation of individual aspects of this agreement, or guarantee mechanisms,” Grushko said. “In the meantime, it’s just hot air.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said in remarks published on Sunday that the stationing of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine is a question for Kyiv to decide and not Moscow.
Grushko said that European allies of Kyiv should understand that only the exclusion of Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the elimination of the possibility of deploying foreign military contingents on its territory will work for the region.
“Then the security of Ukraine and the entire region in a broader sense will be ensured since one of the root causes of the conflict will be eliminated,” Grushko said.
