Moscow, March 17 (IANS) Russia has rejected the possible deployment of NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine, suggesting unarmed observers or a civilian monitoring group sent there to oversee a potential peace deal.
Discussions on peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine remain premature and should only take place after a formal peace agreement has been reached, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko in an interview with Russian daily Izvestia on Sunday.
Grushko emphasised that NATO’s involvement in peacekeeping operations is fundamentally contradictory, Xinhua news agency reported.
“NATO and peacekeeping are entirely incompatible. The real history of the alliance consists of military operations and unprovoked aggression to assert its global and regional dominance,” he said.
He reaffirmed Russia’s stance that the deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine — whether under the banner of the EU, NATO, or individual national forces — would effectively place them in the conflict zone, making them direct participants with all the consequences that entail.
As a possible alternative, he said that an unarmed observer mission or a civilian monitoring group could be considered to oversee certain aspects of a potential peace deal.
“Such mission could ensure compliance with specific provisions and serve as part of a broader guarantee mechanism,” he added.
“It is because that only through their formation it will be possible to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine and generally strengthen security in the region,” he said.
“Ukraine’s neutral status and NATO member states’ refusal to admit this country as a member of the alliance must be the part of such guarantees.”
US President Donald Trump is trying to win President Vladimir Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week and which Putin says needs to meet crucial conditions to be acceptable.
Trump is expected to speak with his Putin this week on ways to end the three-year war in Ukraine, US Envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN on Sunday after returning from what he described as a “positive” meeting with Putin in Moscow.
Moscow is categorically against the deployment of NATO observers to Ukraine, Grushko also reiterated the Kremlin’s position.
Britain and France both have 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.
–IANS
int/khz
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