Europe cannot independently deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine without U.S. involvement, says the director of research at the European Council

Europe cannot deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine without U.S. involvement.

This was stated by Jeremy Shapiro, Director of Research at the European Council on Foreign Relations, in an interview with The New York Times.

According to the media, the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is discussing sending 40,000 European soldiers to the demarcation line after the end of hostilities. However, Trump opposes sending American troops to Ukraine.

“Such a proposal would cause outrage in Berlin and London, where the refusal to send troops has been a symbol of faith since the early days of the war,” NYT commented.

“There won’t be an 800-mile buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia. Europe couldn’t do this without U.S. support. But this is a very good example of political theater,” Shapiro said.

NYT believes that Trump will propose more ideas for ending the war in Ukraine after his inauguration.

Earlier, media reported that Europe currently lacks consensus on deploying peacekeepers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also expressed skepticism about the likelihood of such a prospect anytime soon.