09/14/2025September 14, 2025
UN’s Baerbock says Blue Helmets could help safeguard ceasefire in post-war Ukraine
President of the General Assembly has said she could imagine UN peacekeeping forces being deployed to Ukraine to secure a ceasefire and post-war peace if supported by the majority of UN states.
Baerbock, the former German Green Party politician and foreign minister who took over the , was speaking to German weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
“If a peace treaty is reached, it must be secured in the best possible way. And if the majority of member states say that Blue Helmets are needed for this, then that is something that will hopefully secure lasting peace,” Baerbock said.
She said such peace missions are “more necessary than ever before, and not only with regard to the European continent.”
UN peacekeeping forces are referred to as Blue Helmets after the color of the protective gear they wear on the ground. They consist of military personnel from UN member states seconded to work under the command and control of the United Nations.
Such a UN peacekeeping mission would also largely depend on Moscow. The UN Security Council authorizes peacekeeping missions, and Russia’s veto power over any of the Council’s decisions could stymie a UN Blue Helmet deployment to Ukraine.
Efforts to agree to a ceasefire have been ongoing for months, .
Russia has been unwilling to enter talks until what President Vladimir Putin calls the — namely Ukraine’s ambitions to join NATO and the — are addressed.
Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after backing separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014, when its forces illegally annexed the .
Baerbock formally took office as the president of the UN’s General Assembly on Tuesday. The largely ceremonial role is different from that of the UN Secretary-General.
The post Ukraine updates: Could UN peacekeepers safeguard ceasefire? appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
