Peacekeeping Mission in Ukraine Can Be a Success

One of the primary conditions for a UN peace operation to succeed is the need to adhere to the principles of peacekeeping.

- MAJOR GEN A.K. BARDALAI (RETD)

Even though the UN's inaction from February 2021 until the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 lost an opportunity for preventive diplomacy, the latest initiative by the United States has brought some hope.

On the other hand, Europe is contemplating sending their troops to deploy inside Ukraine (not on the front line) to defend Europe in case there is a ceasefire, and Russia decides to attack Europe after the truce.

Europe has not liked the idea of the US giving a loose rope to President Putin.

Besides, if Ukraine decides to sign the mineral deal in return for protection from the US, President Trump taking a step back from his initiative, citing reasons of steep demands from Russia, should not come as a surprise.

There are, therefore, too many "ifs" and "buts" until the deal can go through.

It might take years, but to rule it out completely would be incorrect.

The question, therefore, is which is the most suitable agency for this role whenever it happens?

In this regard, the feasibility of UN peacekeeping as a conflict management tool in Ukraine was explored earlier.

President Putin was open to the idea of using Blue Helmets, which came up earlier in 2015.

Presuming that there will be a ceasefire and, Russia and Ukraine may be amenable to a role in UN peacekeeping, Conning explored the technical elements of monitoring the ceasefire.

However, such an option should be examined in the context of, first, the basic conditions that peace operations must fulfill to succeed and, second, the mission's structure.

This brief assumes that there will be a ceasefire at some point in time, if not now and intends to suggest a workable format for UN peacekeeping to supervise the truce.

THE CONTEXT One of the primary conditions for a UN peace operation to succeed is the need to adhere to the principles of peacekeeping.