As of: April 5, 2024, 6:43 p.m
By: Paula Völkner
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Split
The discussion about NATO troops for Ukraine continues. Norway's foreign minister is not ruling it out. However, it should not be about direct confrontation with Russia.
Oslo – So far, not many NATO states have spoken out in favor of the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. The Polish Foreign Minister and most recently the Latvian Defense Ministry have commented positively on French President Emmanuel Macron's move not to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine. Now Norway has also joined in. This was reported by the Ukrainian newspaper
European Pravda.
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in an interview with the online newspaper that although Norway has no concrete plans to send troops to Ukraine, "in the long term we shouldn't rule anything out as a matter of principle." As Macron has already explained, Eide also said that the question of whether NATO countries will send troops to Ukraine is not about combat units for direct military confrontation with Russia. Rather, it should be about support, training and military advice.
Military exercise “Nordic Response” in Norway. NATO practices the alliance case (archive image) © Heiko Junge/NTB/dpa
Ukraine wants to support Norway until Russia suffers a defeat. “But there is no desire to be directly a party to the war, because that could lead to a world war, which we do not want to see,” Eide told European Pravda.
Norwegian armed forces commander on threat from Russia: “We don’t have much time left”
Norway shares an almost 200 kilometer long border with Russia and has often warned of the threat from Russia in the past. In an interview with
Editorial Network Germany
in February, the Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces, Eirik Kristoffersen, explained that the threat to neighboring Norway posed by Russia was not acute, but that Norway “doesn’t have much time left”.
The number of Russian armed forces has declined because “much of the military equipment that was near the border was brought to Ukraine and is now destroyed.” Kristoffersen explained that Russia currently no longer has the opportunity to launch an offensive in the “neighborhood”.
NATO partners Germany and Norway: Disunited in the debate about the possible deployment of troops
Just a month ago, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius traveled to the Scandinavian NATO states, including Norway. Meanwhile, the NATO military exercise “Nordic Response” took place there, in which the alliance case was practiced. 1,500 soldiers from Germany also took part.
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The meeting was also about NATO partners Germany and Norway jointly supporting Ukraine in its air defense. However, unlike the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Pistorius firmly rejected the use of Western troops in Ukraine during his trip to Scandinavia in March and called for an end to the debate about the possible use of NATO troops.
(pav)