Canada studies how to join Ukrainian peacekeeping forces – including ending national training missions
The Canadian general responsible for overseas and domestic operations said detailed planning of a potential “willed” peacekeeping mission to Ukraine this week is expected to be carried out.
With Ukraine and Russia indirectly meeting, hammering a limited ceasefire, the concept of peacekeeping forces is encountering international attitudes.
Lieutenant. Steve Boivin suggests that Canada will be stretched, but if the troops training Ukrainian forces are reused for peacekeeping.
He told CBC News that a preliminary gathering of senior military commanders from 28 countries said they were willing to contribute to the force – which will be deployed in the ceasefire – was held in the UK last week.
The blog post participated in the discussion.
Indirect ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine began in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the effort introduced by the United States. The two countries agreed in principle to a month-long pause in the strike on energy infrastructure after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the uncertainty about how it will take effect is uncertain.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer proposed a peacekeeping force a few weeks ago, including Canada.
In early March, Defense Secretary Bill Blair said before Sunday’s federal election call that Canada was “ready and capable” to contribute troops in the case of a ceasefire.
“I stress that we don’t know what the conditions for this ceasefire might be. So we are working to make many assumptions and develop contingency plans,” Boivin said. “The overall purpose is to provide choices for policy makers.”
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff regarded Starmer’s peacekeeping plan as “position and posture” last weekend.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to end the war in Ukraine, but the exact way can be debated. Andrew Chang breaks down what Russia, Ukraine and the United States all want from the resolution, and the ambivalent interests that make their goals incompatible. Getty Images, images provided by Reuters and Canadian media.
Meanwhile, several British media reported on Monday that the senior British military commander (cited anonymously) said the prime minister was already ahead. They said the detailed plan will be completed by April 20 – a deadline for the White House ceasefire.
Obviously, this will be a struggle for Canada to contribute.
Canada is in the midst of elections, and if the new government agrees to deploy peacekeeping personnel, then facing the reality, there are not many Canadian forces.
The military has been working to refill in the aftermath of the 19009 pandemic and the sexual misconduct crisis, which has affected many senior commanders.
With as many as 400 Canadian troops involved in training Ukrainian forces, Bowen said one of the options being considered at its headquarters is to “re-roll” some or all of them for peacekeeping missions.
“My guidance to my team is: Let’s start with what we already have on the ground,” the blog post said.
Training of Ukrainian soldiers – basic recruits, medical staff and tank crews, etc. – is a conceptual conversation point when the Liberal Government stressed support for the embattled state. More than 32,000 Ukrainian troops have been trained under Operation Unifier, which continues to be a major requirement of the Zelenskyy government.
One of the reasons why the troops may need to be retrained is because the army is fully involved in its commitment to build and lead NATO brigades in Latvia, Boivin said.
“We will not affect our contribution to Latvia,” the blog post said. “We have made a commitment to NATO.”
He said the Allied military planners had begun to study the size and composition of potential peacekeeping forces and how severely it had to be.
Given that allied intelligence estimates indicate that Ukraine has about 700,000 troops around and the Ukrainian army has more than one million soldiers, this is a reasonable concern.
The amount of force required may be very large
In the latest analysis of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Benjamin Jensen wrote that given the approximately 2,100 km long frontline, the size of the peacekeeping force could be huge.
“The security forces needed to truly protect Ukraine’s peace may be as large as the entire Greek or Spanish army,” wrote Jensen, a senior researcher at the think tank.
“In other words, peacekeeping in Ukraine has the potential to erode the previous NATO mission in the Balkans with its scale and complexity.”
He estimates that it may range from anywhere between thousands of soldiers to 100,000, which also must be weighted to be armed and backed up.
“To ensure security, this force must not only act as a deterrent, but also have the ability to fight back against potential Russia Faits Attacks along the border. ” Jansen wrote.
“And such forces will require additional air, naval and space assets to cover the air and maritime corridors that Russia may use to launch future preemptive attacks.”
Anthony King, a professor at the Institute for Strategic and Security at the University of Exeter, shows that the basic assumption has always been that any peacekeeping force in Ukraine needs our support.
“It seems that European countries may be able to convene a reliable force, which may generate enough goodwill in the White House so that the president can provide some additional support,” the king said in a talks in Saudi Arabia.
“At least it’s U.S. infrastructure support, so peacekeeping forces can take advantage of the U.S.’s impressive air defense system. This is crucial to ensuring Ukraine’s security in the future.”
