The British Monarchy’s Royal United Services Institute, in a Feb. 16 article by Neil Melvin, “Securing Ukraine Is the U.K.’s Challenge, But It Needs to Be Done Right,” states that sending Western “peacekeeping” troops to Ukraine, could produce a direct confrontation with Russia at this moment. It would be better to continue the “Biden Ukraine compact,” to heavily arm Ukraine, and prepare for a military showdown with Russia in the Arctic, and in regions north of Britain.
Author Neil Melvin is RUSI’s Director of International Security, who previously worked for such high-level think tanks as SIPRI and Chatham House. Melvin states, “With little realistic prospect of a force of the size Zelenskyy has called for, in fact, the presence of European troops would have to be considered as a tripwire force. So, by making such a security commitment, Europe would have to be prepared to escalate to a full-scale war with Russia in Ukraine, and possibly on a wider front, in the event that its peacekeeping forces come under attack.”
Instead, Melvin calls for action on two different steps. First, for intensifying the Ukraine project: “Europe should double down on the commitments that it has already made to Ukraine. At the NATO Washington summit in July 2024, President Joe Biden launched the Ukraine compact. Building on the G7 long-term security commitments to Ukraine made on the margins of the Vilnius NATO summit the previous year, the Ukraine compact brought together over 20 bilateral security commitments, including from countries in Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” which would “drive the future development of Ukraine’s armed forces.” “Moscow must not be allowed to dictate a demilitarization of Ukraine or enforce neutrality on the country,” he avers, asserting that “this is the moment for the U.K. to offer its leadership of the Ukraine compact.”
