Nato countries cool on poland's peacekeeping plan for ukraine

Nato countries cool on Poland's peacekeeping plan for Ukraine Nato countries reacted coolly on Wednesday to Poland’s proposal for an armed peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, as the alliance’s 30 defence ministers held talks on fortifying the bloc and preventing a wider war with Russia.

The proposal by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s deputy prime minister and chairman of its ruling party, calls for a Nato mission to provide humanitarian aid that would be “able to defend itself” and “protected by appropriate forces, armed forces”.

Any such mission would be the first deployment of Nato troops in Ukraine, with members of the alliance so far donating weapons and other equipment but regarding any direct engagement with Russian forces as a step too far.

The US-led alliance has refused Ukraine’s demands to establish a no-fly zone over the country for fear that it would escalate into a wider European conflict with Russia.

That same concern helped to sink another proposal of Poland's, to put a fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 jets at Nato's disposal to help Ukraine, in a transfer the US described as untenable.

Arriving at Wednesday’s emergency meeting in Brussels, some Nato ministers swiftly dismissed Poland’s peacekeeping idea while others said they were looking for further details on the proposal.

Kajsa Ollongren, the Dutch representative, said it was “very difficult to see a peace mission now with a war going on”, with Russian troops directly attacking and besieging major cities in Ukraine.

“We’re still in too early stages to talk about that. First, we have to have a ceasefire.

We have to see withdrawal from Russia,” she said.

Luxembourg’s Francois Bausch gave a “very clear no” to Poland’s suggestion, instead calling for Russia to return to the negotiating table.

The UK and Canada said the idea would be discussed on Wednesday and did not come down firmly on either side, although Canadian minister Anita Anand said successful peace negotiations were the best way forward.

Estonia’s Defence Minister Kalle Laanet said he was open to Poland’s idea, which he described as one of the possibilities for helping Ukraine.

But he said any such peacekeeping mission should be supported by the UN Security Council, where Russia is a permanent member and has a veto.

The proposal by Mr Kaczynski emerged from his visit to Kyiv with the prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, in what Ukraine hailed as a courageous act of solidarity.

It was the first visit by such a delegation since Russia invaded Ukraine. The three prime ministers were safely back in Poland on Wednesday morning, a Polish government spokesman said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conceded on Tuesday that his country was unlikely to join Nato any time soon and said his country was looking for other types of security guarantees.

Nato’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has signalled, in turn, that the alliance will need to rethink its long-term posture to respond to the heightened threat from Russia.

Troops have already been put on high alert across the alliance’s eastern flank following a war which Nato has described as an attempt by Russia to regain its former sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

The US, which supplies the largest share of Nato forces, similarly predicted discussions about the alliance’s long-term stance towards Russia.

“We need to reset our military posture for this new reality,” Mr Stoltenberg said.