Spain would participate in hypothetical peacekeeping mission in Ukraine: Report

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain would participate in a European military mission in Ukraine if security and operational guarantees are met, Spanish daily El Pais reported Monday.

While Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said it is “premature” to discuss peacekeeping in Ukraine as the war continues, Defense Ministry sources told the Spanish daily that “Spain cannot afford to remain on the sidelines.”

If a European military mission is deployed on the ground in Ukraine following a peace agreement with Russia, Spain would have to contribute in some capacity, the sources said.

A high-level official told El Pais that Spain is in “wait and see” mode and is prioritizing strengthening Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table with Russia.

However, Spain’s Defense Ministry is weighing various scenarios, even though key details about the mission remain unclear, including its mandate, legal framework, chain of command and engagement rules, according to the report.

3 scenarios

One scenario is a European mission that would facilitate prisoner exchanges, oversee the withdrawal of military forces and investigate ceasefire violations.

However, a similar monitoring mission led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine from 2014 to 2022 failed to prevent Russia’s latest war.

Another scenario involves relocating an EU training mission to Ukrainian soil. So far, the mission has trained more than 70,000 Ukrainian troops across Europe, around 10% of them in Spain.

While these hypothetical training centers would be far from the front line, military sources are unsure what would happen if Russia targeted them and killed European instructors.

Finally, Spain is also considering how it could contribute to a military mission that would act as a deterrent against further Russian aggression. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have proposed deploying 30,000 troops while demanding an immediate halt to Russian attacks.

This military mission would likely be a “coalition of the willing,” operating outside the EU or NATO. As a result, it would lack intelligence and anti-aircraft defense capabilities, and US security guarantees would need to be negotiated.

Spain, with 3,000 troops stationed in Eastern Europe, has limited resources for such a deployment, according to military sources.

Any troop deployment to Ukraine would also require parliamentary approval. One of the coalition government’s backers, Podemos, has already voiced opposition.

On Tuesday, Spanish Chief of Defense Staff Teodoro Lopez Calderon will attend a meeting in Paris with top NATO and EU military commanders to discuss a potential military mission.

Later this week, Sanchez will also meet with all of Spain’s parliamentary groups, except for the far-right party Vox, to discuss Ukraine and European defense.