Europe must puzzle over Ukraine strategy

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to Polish television IVP Info, complained last week about the number of meetings, summits and video conferences in Europe on Ukraine, saying that they do not lead to any results and do not bring peace closer.

Frustration with European policy on Ukraine, which is starting to reach a dead end, has probably surfaced, while the Americans, despite all doubts and problems, continue their diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the war.

The latest EU summit on March 20 also indicated difficulties. It was expected that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would sink a resolution to further support Ukraine based on the "peace through strength" strategy. However, a proposal by European chief diplomat Kaja Kallas to provide another 40 billion euros in aid to Kiev did not pass. France, Italy and Spain rejected it. Are these countries not only considering that billions of euros could be better used for rearming their own armies? A proposal to allocate five billion euros to buy two million artillery shells also failed.

Europe now has to deal with political shocks coming from Washington, accompanied by pressure from Moscow, and its limited ability to act autonomously in Ukraine without the US. Both limit the "coalition of the willing", led by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose main goal is to provide peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.

Thirty thousand soldiers are expected, but it is not certain whether they will be able to be brought together. Political will is limited. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared that sending European peacekeeping troops to Ukraine is "risky, expensive and ineffective", Poland refused to participate in the mission – its priority is to protect its own borders, Germany is rather hesitant. Moreover, the Americans have not indicated their willingness to support the mission. Without their intelligence, air force and logistics, the mission cannot be carried out. Macron is considering that European peacekeeping forces could operate under the UN flag, but this will not pass through Russia in the Security Council and the US may also be reserved.

According to the Politico portal, a gloomy feeling of "realism" prevailed in Brussels at the same time that the Union is out of the game in the peace talks on Ukraine. Nevertheless, it is not giving up. According to available information, the next meeting called by Macron for today in Paris is to assess Europe's options in the peace process.

European leaders have already discussed who could take on the role of chief negotiator. It emerged from the corridors that it may not automatically be chief diplomat Kallas. Perhaps they are taking into account the fact that when she was recently in the US, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not make time for her, as well as her statement that the free world needs a new leader instead of Donald Trump.

Miloš Balabán, Právo Daily