The head of United Nations peacekeeping has urged the Security Council to satisfy itself there is a peace to keep before sending troops on further large-scale missions such as the one in Darfur.

“I would say very bluntly that there are good reasons to be hesitant,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, who leaves his post this month after eight years in which the number of UN peacekeepers worldwide – and the cost of deploying them – have almost trebled.