As of: March 7, 2024, 5:23 a.m
By: Luke Rogalla
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Chancellor Scholz and the NATO chief have ruled out sending NATO ground troops.
But Petr Pavel wants to discuss Macron's proposal.
Prague - Emmanuel Macron, the French President, has caused considerable unrest and debate within NATO with his thoughts about sending ground troops to Ukraine.
Clear skepticism and sometimes sharp criticism was expressed by most member states.
Nevertheless, Macron sticks to his position and doesn't rule anything out.
He defends himself with the words: “Every word I say on this topic is considered, thoughtful and prudent.”
During a visit to the Czech Republic on Tuesday (March 5), he added that Ukraine's European allies "should not be cowards."
Petr Pavel, the President of the Czech Republic, now also seems open to the idea.
Ground troops in Ukraine are conceivable – for training purposes
According to reports in the Czech media, Pavel is also not averse to sending Western troops to Ukraine - although not to fight directly against Russia, but rather for training purposes.
At a joint press conference with Macron, Pavel called for further discussions on the issue.
He urged allies “not to restrict ourselves where we don’t have to,” according to the
Novinky
news site .
Pavel emphasized that despite the Russian attack, Ukraine is still a sovereign country and added that such a training mission would not violate any international rules.
He said it makes no difference whether Ukrainian soldiers are trained by Western allies abroad or in Ukraine itself.
“It is up to us what form of support we choose,” Pavel added.
Europe as a whole must play a larger role in deterrence.
Czech Republic President Petr Pavel visiting NATO soldiers.
(Archive photo) © Michaela Rihova/Imago
NATO chief and Scholz ruled out ground troops in Ukraine
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the heads of government of other countries have already ruled out sending Western troops to Ukraine.
Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, expressed similar sentiments to Pavel.
She said European allies should not rule out the option of ground troops in advance.
This could also be a “signal to Russia” in the Ukraine war.
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Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, warned of “tragic consequences” if NATO sent troops to Ukraine in his state of the nation address.
Putin emphasized that the West would risk a major nuclear war by supporting Kiev.
(lrg)
Editor Lukas Rogalla wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
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