In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, stated that the West may extend its assistance to Ukraine beyond the provision of weapons, potentially including the deployment of military personnel.
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“Today, the experience that military personnel can gain on Ukrainian territory is unparalleled anywhere else,” Danilov told Ukrainska Pravda. “As such, we do not exclude the possibility of various units from Western countries appearing on our soil, should the appropriate decision be made.”
Earlier on 8 March, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski stated that French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to deploy Western troops on Ukrainian soil could be useful as a way to influence Russia’s actions in the ongoing war.
“The presence of NATO forces in Ukraine is not unthinkable,” said Sikorski at a conference in the Polish parliament, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Poland’s NATO membership.
Sikorski drew parallels to the Korean War of 1950-1953, when a coalition of nations, backed by a UN Security Council resolution, came to the aid of South Korea.
“I appreciate the recent French initiative because I believe it has good intentions – to make the Russian president question what our next move will be, rather than being certain that we will do nothing creative, allowing him to plan his scenarios,” Sikorski emphasized.
He argued that the West should leverage its “ability to engage in creatively defined and asymmetric escalation” to gain an advantage in the war.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out,” later clarifying that his words were carefully considered. However, Macron’s statement drew negative reactions from allied governments, with leaders hastening to assure that they would not send troops.
Moscow responded angrily to Macron’s comments, warning that the deployment of Western forces in Ukraine would inevitably lead to a conflict between Russia and NATO.
Read more:
- Polish foreign minister: presence of NATO forces in Ukraine “is not unthinkable”
- Ukraine support cannot have limits, Macron tells French party leaders
- Macron says Ukraine’s allies must not be cowards, rise up
- Macron backs Czech plan to supply Ukraine with 800,000 artillery shells
- Macron: No French troops to be sent to Ukraine in “near future”
- Macron doesn’t rule out sending troops to Ukraine
