According to Politico, European leaders are considering the creation of a 40-kilometer buffer zone between Ukrainian and Russian troops as part of a future peace agreement.
Points of attention
- The consideration of deploying up to 60,000 peacekeepers to control the buffer zone underscores the magnitude of the security challenges and the desperate measures being evaluated by NATO allies.
- The secrecy and controversy surrounding Europe's new plan for Ukraine reflect the complex geopolitical dynamics and the high stakes involved in resolving the ongoing conflict in the region.
What is known about the new plan for Europe?
As journalists learned, the buffer zone is one of several proposals being discussed by Ukraine's European allies.
The problem is that countries have not yet reached a common position on the depth of such a zone.
It is also currently difficult to understand whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team will agree to it, since it involves potential territorial concessions.
But the fact that officials are considering blocking a strip of Ukrainian territory to ensure a fragile peace indicates the desperation of NATO allies, the publication writes.
This idea has already been criticized by former senior Pentagon official Jim Townsend.
According to the latter, European leaders are simply "grasping at straws."
"The Russians are not afraid of the Europeans. And if they think that a few British and French observers will stop them from invading Ukraine, they are mistaken," the representative of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry emphasized.
As for the number of military personnel to control the buffer zone, it could reach 60,000 peacekeepers.
