Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that it is not “unthinkable” that Western troops could be deployed to Ukraine to defend against Russia’s invasion.
Sikorski, who spoke at Poland’s parliament on Friday, was reacting to a recent comment by French President Emmanuel Macron, who suggested late last month that Western forces could be sent to fight in Ukraine in order to prevent Russia from winning the war.
According to a report from the Ukrainian news outlet European Pravda, Sikorski said that having a “coalition of UN member states to stop aggression here is not unthinkable,” noting that a coalition of United Nations members provided fighting units and other military personnel at the onset of the Korean War in 1950 when North Korea invaded its southern neighbor.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
“That is why I applaud the recent French initiative,” Sikorski added. “Because, in my opinion, there are good intentions behind it, namely to make the Russian president ask himself what our next step will be, instead of allowing him to be certain that we will not do anything creative and to plan his own scenarios.”
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also suggested last month that a “number of NATO and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis.” The Slovakian leader failed to provide further details about such discussions at the time.
Earlier this week, Czech President Petr Pavel said following a meeting with Macron that he was “in favor” of finding news ways to support Kyiv’s military, including continuing conversations about the possibility of putting troops on the ground in Ukraine.
“Let’s not limit ourselves where we don’t have to,” he added, according to Czech news website Novinky.
Macron double-downed on his previous statements after he and Pavel’s meeting as well, urging Western countries to not be “cowards” in supporting Ukraine but added that the bloc wants “no escalation” with Russia through its actions.
The Kremlin has said that talks of sending Western troops to Ukraine would be crossing a “red line” for Russia. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said during televised remarks on Tuesday that such discussions “shows the high degree of political irresponsibility of Europe’s leaders today” and specifically called out Macron.
“These statements are extremely dangerous,” Naryshkin added. “It is sad to see this, sad to observe and sad to understand that the ability of current elites in Europe and the North Atlantic to negotiate is at a very low level. They more and more rarely demonstrate any common sense at all.”
Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin press office via email for further comment.
President Joe Biden reiterated the White House’s unwavering support for Ukraine during his State of the Union address Thursday and urged Republican lawmakers to sign off on sending additional assistance to Kyiv.
Biden noted, however, that Ukraine is not “asking for American soldiers” to help defend itself, adding, “In fact, there are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine. And I am determined to keep it that way.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.