Ireland Reportedly Open to Sending Peacekeepers to Ukraine

Ireland is open to sending troops to Ukraine to help enforce a peace deal, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin reportedly told President Volodymyr Zelensky at Shannon Airport on Thursday.

Zelensky stopped off at Shannon en route to Washington where he intends to sign a framework agreement with US President Donald Trump on Ukraine’s mineral and gas resources on Friday.

“Mr. Martin said he told Mr. Zelensky that Ireland is open to helping, including sending peacekeepers to Ukraine,” the Irish Examiner reported.

During the meeting with Zelensky at Shannon, Martin reiterated Ireland’s support for Ukraine, particularly the country’s accession to the EU, of which Ireland is a member state.

“We made it clear that we would push very strongly for an accelerated timeline in terms of Ukrainian membership of the European Union. He’s very keen on that,” Martin said, according to the Irish Examiner.

Martin added that Ukraine joining the EU “gives certain security guarantees” to the country.

“It’s a priority because, in itself, it gives certain security guarantees to Ukraine, but economically it also opens up very significant opportunities for Ukraine into the future, and he appreciates our steadfast support from the beginning to Ukrainian accession to the European Union,” Martin added.

The Kremlin said on Feb. 18 that it is not opposed to Ukraine joining the EU as it is not a military alliance. EU officials have, on multiple occasions, named 2030 as the goal for Ukraine’s EU accession.

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Martin also commented on the EU’s aid to Ukraine and criticized Hungary’s opposition.

“We discussed support by Ireland, financially, to Ukraine. I explained that our commitments under the European Peace Facility have been frustrated by Hungary’s decision to veto the deployment of the European Peace Facility fund, set up by the European Union,” Martin said.

After the meeting, Zelensky’s office said in a press release that Ireland would provide Ukraine with an unspecified number of Giraffe radars, a family of mobile radars developed by Swedish maker Saab.

“In particular, Volodymyr Zelensky and Michał Martin discussed security guarantees and the importance of unity between Ukraine, Europe, and the United States on the path to a just peace,” the press release states.

“Special attention is paid to sky control, Ireland’s participation in the demining coalition and the EU training mission for the Ukrainian military,” it adds.

The UK and France have voiced openness to deploying some 30,000 peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in future peace settlements. Though Berlin has ruled out troop deployments, German defense officials said the idea might be considered once a framework is in place, according to Reuters.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is open to European peacekeepers in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly opposed the idea.

Turkey, a NATO member with the second-largest army in NATO after the US, is also reportedly open to deploying troops to Ukraine if Ankara is involved in all relevant discussions and preparations, according to Bloomberg.