Nato allies wary of Poland's call for armed peace mission to Ukraine War in Ukraine

BRUSSELS • Nato allies refused yesterday to back a Polish call for the alliance to send an armed peace mission to Ukraine, but vowed to keep supplying arms despite threats from Moscow.

Poland's Vice-Premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski had suggested a peacekeeping deployment in Ukraine to provide humanitarian aid during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.

He made his remarks after he and the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia arrived in Kyiv in a show of high-level backing for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"I think that it is necessary to have a peace mission - Nato, possibly some wider international structure - but a mission that will be able to defend itself, which will operate on Ukrainian territory," Mr Kaczynski told a news conference.

"It will be a mission that will strive for peace, to give humanitarian aid, but at the same time it will also be protected by appropriate forces, armed forces," he said.

But Nato defence ministers were wary of the idea as they arrived in Brussels for urgent talks on Russia's war against its neighbour.

"I'm afraid we're still in too early stages to talk about that," Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said. "First we have to have a ceasefire. We have to see a withdrawal by Russia. There has to be some kind of agreement between Ukraine and Russia, and I think the talks are still going on."

Estonian Defence Minister Kalle Laanet said a proposed peacekeeping mission was "one of the possibilities and, of course, we have to look to all the possibilities which can help Ukraine". But he added that such a deployment would need the backing of the United Nations Security Council where Russia holds a veto.

Nato has rebuffed pleas from Ukraine to intervene in the conflict, including imposing a no-fly zone to help halt Russian bombings. The US-led alliance says its direct involvement in non-member state Ukraine could spark a confrontation with Russia that may spill over into nuclear war.

Nato allies have instead been sending weapons to help Ukrainian forces to defend their country, especially vitally needed portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems. "We support their ability to defend themselves and we'll continue to support them going forward," US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said.

In Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said in a video address released early yesterday that the positions of his country and Russia at peace talks were sounding more realistic but that more time was needed.

"The meetings continue and, I am informed, the positions during the negotiations already sound more realistic. But time is still needed for the decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine," said Mr Zelensky.

Hours earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's leadership was not "serious" about resolving the conflict.

Ahead of another round of talks yesterday, Russia said some parts of a possible peace deal with Ukraine were close to being agreed after the government in Kyiv said it would discuss a neutral status like Austria's or Sweden's.

"Neutral status is now being seriously discussed along, of course, with security guarantees," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told RBC news.

Following those comments, Ukraine's top negotiator said Kyiv wants its security to be guaranteed by international forces and rejected proposals pushed by Russia for it to adopt a neutral status.

"Ukraine is now in a direct state of war with Russia. As a result, the model can only be 'Ukrainian' and only on legally verified security guarantees," Mr Mikhailo Podolyak said in comments published by Mr Zelensky's office. He called for a legally binding security agreement, signed by international partners who would "not stand aside in the event of an attack on Ukraine, as they do today".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS