Blair: Canada is ready to join the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.

Canada is ready to join the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if a ceasefire is achieved. This statement was made by Canada's Minister of Defense, Bill Blair, at the Defense Conferences Forum in Ottawa. He emphasized that Canada is willing to contribute to the peacekeeping forces, but security issues for Ukraine and other participating countries need to be discussed.

The initiative to form peacekeeping forces is led by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer. He proposed involving European countries to send their troops to eastern Ukraine on the condition of a ceasefire or peaceful settlement. The main goal is to prevent Russia from rearming and attempting to conquer Ukraine.

However, for such forces to function successfully, security guarantees, including from the USA, are necessary. While these guarantees are lacking, it has led to disputes between Presidents Trump and Zelensky. U.S. Vice President Jay D. Vance rejected this initiative, claiming that U.S. economic support is a better security guarantee.

Relations between the USA and Canada have deteriorated due to Vance's comments, given that Canada, the United Kingdom, and France participated alongside American troops. The idea of a 'coalition of the willing' allows NATO member countries to act together, independently of NATO, to avoid political disputes within the alliance, particularly with Hungary and Slovakia.

Russia continuously rejects any proposals for peacekeeping forces in Ukraine. However, the Baltic countries and Finland have expressed interest in joining the UK, France, and Canada in creating such forces.