Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico warned on Monday that some NATO and EU countries are considering sending troops to Ukraine, a step that would risk direct war between NATO and Russia.
"Several NATO and EU member states are considering sending their soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis," said Fico, who was elected last year on a platform of opposing the proxy war in Ukraine.
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| Firing US-Supplied Javelin missiles. Source: Ukrainian Defense Ministry Press Service |
Some NATO members have signed bilateral security deals with Ukraine, including Germany and the UK, but there’s no indication they’re considering sending troops at this time.
"We see huge security risks in the bilateral agreements that are likely to be conducted soon with NATO and EU member states that want to send their troops to Ukraine," Fico said.
He made the comments ahead of a meeting of European leaders in Paris about the proxy war in Ukraine. After the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said the idea of Western troops in Ukraine hasn’t been ruled out.
"There’s no consensus today to send in an official, endorsed manner troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out," Macron said.
The French Foreign Ministry subsequently on Tuesday issued this curiously-worded statement:
Western countries could deploy troops to Ukraine without breaching any "belligerence threshold", French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on Tuesday.
Western nations could engage in demining, arms production and operations in the cyber field "on Ukrainian soil... without breaching any belligerence threshold," Sejourne said, after President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine.
Troops from any single European country being in Ukraine presents issues related to NATO Article 5....
🔴 The Kremlin has warned that a conflict between Russia and Nato would be inevitable if European members of the alliance send troops to fight in Ukraine.
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 27, 2024
Read more here ⬇️https://t.co/IXWg4ivKeg pic.twitter.com/SOfdYOjhuI
The Discord leaks revealed last year that there are a small number of NATO special operations forces inside Ukraine. According to a leaked Pentagon document, there were 97 NATO special operations soldiers in Ukraine, including 14 Americans, as of March 2023.
