NATO not ready to deploy to Ukraine – member state

The bloc should instead focus on military and financial assistance to Kiev, according to Latvia

NATO states are not ready for talks about sending ground troops to Ukraine, even after France hinted at such a possibility last month, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said on Wednesday.

Silina was meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin as part of a working visit to the country.

“With regard to the troops, I do not think that this initiative was very well prepared, because the discussion about this has not yet matured. Speaking about sending troops, I think we in NATO are not ready to do this,” the Latvian prime minister stated at a joint press conference with Scholz.

She pointed out that Kiev has not asked NATO states to send troops and emphasized that “we need to focus on Ukraine’s needs, not on what Ukraine isn’t asking for.” 

French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that he “cannot exclude” the possibility of soldiers from NATO countries being sent to Ukraine. His remarks led to a wave of denials from the leaders of other states in the US-led bloc, who insisted that there are no plans to send Western troops to Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also refuted the idea shortly after Macron’s initial statement, saying that there were no plans to deploy troops to Ukraine.

READ MORE: ‘Day may come’ for EU troops in Ukraine – Kiev

Moscow has warned that NATO troops in Ukraine would likely make a direct confrontation between Russia and the US-led bloc inevitable. Russia considers the Ukraine conflict to be a proxy war against it, and has repeatedly said that by aiding Kiev NATO members are prolonging the hostilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that claims by Kiev and its foreign backers that Russia will target NATO states are “nonsense.” However, in another interview, the president stressed that Moscow will treat Western troops as “invaders” if they are deployed to Ukraine, and will respond accordingly.