Martens Blog – Should Europe send troops to Ukraine?

Blog post from Juha Vauhkonen, rear admiral (ret.) from the Finnish Armed forces, Gary Deakin, major general (ret.) from the UK and Michael Benhamou, OPEWI’s Director.

President Macron stating that Europeans may consider sending troops to Ukraine is a psychological shock for Europeans. It brings war one step closer to kitchen tables. But is it feasible from a battlefield perspective? 

Mostly because of Moscow’s extreme “denazification” goals, there are only two ways out of this conflict right now: Russia’s victory or Ukraine’s victory. And given demographics and Ukrainian infantry losses, it is all too obvious that Ukraine can only last two or three more years at this deadly pace. Russia, on the other hand, can prolong the ordeal it initiated until the end of the decade. 

In practice, this means that Ukraine’s second military mobilisation wave will be its last. Could European troops be that third wave that would allow Ukraine’s war effort to regenerate as of 2025 or 2026? Is the future a combination of European and Ukrainian troops fighting side by side?

The rest of the paper here: https://www.martenscentre.eu/blog/should-europe-send-troops-to-ukraine/