During a conference in the Polish parliament marking 25 years of Poland’s NATO membership, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that NATO troops are already in Ukraine.
“Soldiers from NATO countries are already present in Ukraine. I would like to thank the countries that are taking this risk. They know who they are,” Sikorski stated, commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks about the possibility of sending Western troops to aid Ukraine.
However, the Polish minister refused to specify which NATO member nations he was referring to.
“Unlike other European politicians, I will not say this,” he emphasized.
On 26 February, 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.
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 in the Polish parliament.
He argued that the West should leverage its “ability to engage in creatively defined and asymmetric escalation” to gain an advantage in the war.
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:
- Italy opposes sending NATO troops to Ukraine
- French FM: “Ukraine didn’t ask us to send troops. We don’t exclude anything”
- 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
