Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stirred diplomatic waters on Friday, March 8, by saying that "NATO military personnel are already present in Ukraine."
Speaking during a conference commemorating Poland's 25th anniversary of joining the NATO alliance, Sikorski refrained from disclosing the specific countries involved but expressed gratitude to those nations for their participation.
"NATO soldiers are already present in Ukraine. And I would like to thank the ambassadors of those countries who have taken that risk. These countries know who they are, but I can't disclose them. Contrary to other politicians, I will not list those countries," Sikorski said.
In response to Sikorski's statement, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, suggested that further denial of NATO involvement would be futile.
The statement comes amidst growing discussions following French President Emmanuel Macron's recent remarks regarding the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine.
Speaking at a conference in Paris on Feb. 26, he did not rule out the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine, stirring controversy within the Western diplomatic sphere.
“Currently, there is no consensus on sending troops. But in this matter, nothing should be ruled out in the future,” Macron said at a conference in Paris.
However, subsequent statements from other Western leaders, including the United States, rejected this possibility, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg asserting that the alliance has no such plans.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander Says Situation 'Worsened'
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned of the inevitability of direct conflict between Russia and NATO if foreign troops were to appear in Ukraine.
Macron later clarified France's position, stating that while the country was exploring avenues to support Ukraine, it was not currently considering sending its military contingent to the region.
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Comments (3)
It's starting. Leadership statements worded this way, are always the warm-up for what is to come. A NATO physical presence in Ukraine is morally overdue. That delay will be to NATO's historic shame. Given its 3 putin aligned members though, it can no longer reach consensus. However individual members can still help Ukraine evict putin before he might gain a new ally in November.
In the news today, after meeting with MRGA's putinrump, Orban announced Trump will not put a penny into Ukraine's defence if elected. In his own words, not a penny. So troll lies to the contrary are once again debunked.
For the USA's former allies it's hard to say until November, whether putin's infection has spread too deeply in the USA for it to recover before the election. At present, until its' putinrump led MRGA party has clearly lost its power in Congress, it's probably best to make war plans without expecting US monetary support.
Still, given Ukraine's solely decimated of putins' existing army, a handful of other allies remains sufficient to turn the tide and end his invasion. For their defensive services on Ukrainian soil / airspace, Putin cannot attack any NATO ally without triggering Article 5. Putin will also not resort to nuclear to steal Ukraine. That line was even drawn by his 'friends' China and India.
I suspect some clarification should is needed. Any EU military personnel stationed in Ukraine are almost certainly only there to train. Any EU volunteers actually fighting are almost certainly not members of any EU military organization.
Having trainers in a war zone is hardly news.
When my son was small, he had a classmate that was very mean. Let’s call him X.
X was not only very mean, he was also very sneaky. He would for instance hit another child (Y) with a stick and then quickly run to the teacher and complain that Y had hit him with a stick.
The teacher would ask Y about it, who of course would claim that it was not him, but X who had been hitting with a stick. The teacher would not be able to determine the truth, would mildly reprimand them both and punish neither.
This is how X time after time got away with hurting other children.
Europe hasn’t invaded Russia and hasn’t been a threat to Russia.
Russia on the other hand has invaded a friendly neighbor, has committed thousands of war crimes and is using mercenaries from India, Belarus, Angola and Nepal. Russia is currently also recruiting mercenaries in Syria, among Palestinians and in the Balkans.
Should European soldiers be sent into Ukraine to help the Ukrainians defend their own country, the teacher cannot condemn both Russia and Europe. In fact any teacher who would do so, clearly has a completely disturbed image of what is really going on.
@Mouse, Good analogy and recap of who the villain in this war (lets say "Z") has always been!