Sadly couldn't get past the paywall, but this is interesting:
"Ukraine, Europe is looking for partners: Turkish-led force possible
Prime Minister Costa probes the availability of India, Japan, Canada, Australia for the peacekeeping contingent. Erdogan, who has never broken with Moscow, is a candidate for command"
Il presidente del Consiglio Costa sonda le disponibilità di India, Giappone, Canada, Australia per il contingente di pace. Erdogan, che non ha mai rotto con Mo…
www.repubblica.it
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Ukraine, Europe seeks partners: Turkish-led force possible
by our correspondent Claudio Tito
Ukraine, Europe goes in search of partners: possible Turkish-led force
Council President Costa probes the availability of India, Japan, Canada, Australia for the peacekeeping force. Erdogan, who has never broken with Moscow, is a candidate for the leadership
BRUSSELS - Broadening the ‘coalition of the willing’ to include allies outside the European Union and even countries on other continents. Also studying the possibility of entrusting the command of the peacekeeping contingent to one of these states. Knowing that in ‘pole position’ could be Turkey. The day after the European Council gave the go-ahead to the ‘Rearm Europe’ package prepared by Ursula von der Leyen, attentions shifted to the ways in which the composition of the force in charge of guaranteeing a possible truce between Russia and Ukraine could be carried out.
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The heads of the European institutions - von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas - informed the leaders of Turkey, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway and Iceland of the ‘important decisions taken yesterday’ in a video conference. ‘Our cooperation with like-minded NATO partners,’ the President of the European Council emphasised, ’is crucial for international security, for Ukraine, to intensify our joint defence efforts. Together with our partners in Europe, across the Atlantic and beyond, we must work to support Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace'.
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But the central point now is above all to prove that it is possible to organise a peacekeeping contingent without US participation. The prerequisite for all the contacts and simulations experienced in recent days is the Kremlin's position, which at the moment does not want to give the green light to an EU-only presence in Ukraine. The talks with Great Britain, Turkey, Canada, Norway and Iceland have this as their first objective. But it will probably not be enough. In fact, talks are underway to involve countries as far away as Japan, Australia and India. This is seen as the way to ‘appease’ Moscow and at the same time have a large pool of soldiers. Considering that this interposition force is unlikely to be less than 40,000 men.
Not only that. At this stage Putin has made it explicitly clear that he would not accept a leadership role from France and Great Britain. The only non-European country (not in the political sense) capable of taking on such a role is then Turkey. These are ongoing reflections. It is no coincidence that the leader of Ankara yesterday openly confirmed his readiness for direct engagement: ‘I would like to stress that we are ready to make any contribution, including hosting the negotiation process, to the establishment of a just, lasting and honourable peace in Ukraine’. In his opinion, as France's Macron had proposed, we need ‘a truce as soon as possible’. He then gave a clear signal to Brussels: ‘European security is not the exclusive business of the countries of the Union’.
It must be considered that Turkey is a NATO member but has maintained excellent relations with the Kremlin. And while ruling out a role for the Atlantic Alliance, Erdogan's troops can represent a mediation between the needs of one side and the other. One of the reported drawbacks, if anything, concerns the bad relations with Greece and Cyprus.
Any operation, however, needs two preconditions: Russian guarantees not to promote other attacks; the American willingness to ‘back-up’ the mission, i.e. to ensure the military logistics part. ‘It is in our mutual interest,’ Erdogan explained, ‘to plan all stages of European security with Turkey. It is also important to maintain the transatlantic connection and get the support of our American ally'.
London Premier Keir Starmer also judges the EU decision as ‘a historic step forward’. However, setting up the operation will not be easy. It will take at least three months to get it going and several billion in funding.