The following is the draft legal text of a declaration under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
WE the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
EXPRESSING CONCERN over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,
HAVING CONSULTED pursuant to Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty done at Washington, DC on 4 April 1949,
UPON THE INVITATION OF the government of Ukraine,
RECOGNISING the sovereignty of the government of Ukraine in international law over the entirety of the territory of Ukraine including Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts and over the peninsula of Crimea,
DETERMINED to bring fighting to an end in Ukraine notwithstanding Russia’s ongoing occupation of Ukrainian territory, which is internationally unlawful,
HAVE RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:
The member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will create a multi-lateral peacekeeping force that will enter the territory of Ukraine in consultation and coordination with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, effective as soon as logistically possible.
Those member states initially contributing to the peacekeeping force are those listed in the Schedule to this Declaration.
Other member states may subsequently accede to this declaration and make their own contributions to the peacekeeping force, in coordination with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization central command.
At all times all members of the peacekeeping forces will fall under the operational control of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization central command.
The purposes of the peacekeeping force shall be to restore peace and order in Ukraine and to prevent Russia and Ukraine from continuing their armed conflict whether on Ukrainian territory or elsewhere.
For so long as members of the peacekeeping force are not fired upon, they shall be confined to non-lethal measures in the pursuance of their mandate under this declaration and the territories of Ukraine in which they shall operate shall be those under the de facto control of the government of Ukraine, provided that al all times they retain the right of self-defence.
In the event that the Head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization central command declares that there has been an event in which the peacekeeping force has been fired upon, the peacekeeping force shall thereafter have an enhanced mandate to use all necessary means to achieve the objectives of this declaration, throughout the de jure territory of sovereign Ukraine.
The members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization participating in the peacekeeping force shall enter into a collective status of forces agreement with the government of Ukraine consistent with this declaration.
This declaration shall remain in force until further declaration of the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
We welcome all comments on this intentionally straightforward and internationally uncontroversial draft, designed to end the fighting in Ukraine and to deter further Russian military attacks in Ukraine and bring the war to an armistice.
In response to a comment on this article, we observe that the original signatories to this declaration might not be all NATO member states; there might be a group X who agree in principle (including the United States); a subset Y determined to commit troops in the first phase of deployment, for example in the summer of 2024 (e.g. United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland, inter alia), and then a group Z that might might join groups X and/or Y at a later date, once the situation has stabilised. In this way each member state in the NATO alliance can proceed at the speed it individually feels comfortable with.