Discussion Continues in Germany on the Prospect of Sending German Troops to Ukraine

Sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, Germany will have to act within the framework of the EU and NATO, CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter has said. Only such peacekeeping can be effective and realistic. The participation of the Bundeswehr in peacekeeping forces in Ukraine at the end of the war unleashed against it by Russia is inevitable, according to Christian Democratic Union (CDU) foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter. “As the largest economy in Europe, Germany must be prepared to contribute to peace and the European security architecture,” Kiesewetter said in an interview with German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung published on Friday, 3 January, dw.com reported. Therefore, the politician believes, Germany is obliged to participate in maintaining peace in Ukraine “with well-equipped troops” when the time comes. In Kiesewetter’s opinion, it would be culpable negligence to rule this out. At the same time, he believes that the FRG should act within the framework of the European Union and NATO. “Effective and, given our limited material and human resources in Europe, realistic deployment of peacekeeping forces will take place only when peacekeeping is included in the European and transatlantic security architecture and, consequently, in NATO, because then Ukraine will be under a nuclear shield,” the CDU foreign policy expert said. “The EU will have to take responsibility for its own security” At the same time, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chairwoman of the European Parliament’s defense committee, said that in future peace talks “neither Russia nor the United States should make decisions alone without Europe’s consent”. “The EU will of course have to take responsibility for its own security in the future,” the politician said in an interview with a German outlet. However, what that might look like “can only be determined after the end of hostilities” in Ukraine. In the United States, the most important country to date for military support for Ukraine, Republican Donald Trump will take office as president on 20 January. During the election campaign, he opposed large-scale aid to Kyiv and said he would restore peace in Ukraine “within 24 hours” of taking office. This raised fears in Kyiv that Ukraine might be forced into an agreement that would be disadvantageous for it.