The foreign minister of Poland recently said that the presence of troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Ukraine “is not unthinkable.”
During a discussion commemorating the 25th anniversary of Poland’s entrance into NATO, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski applauded French President Emmanuel Macron for saying that Western troops being sent to Ukraine should not be ruled out.
“Nothing should be ruled out,” Macron said while speaking to reporters. “We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
Macron’s comments faced immense backlash, prompting French officials to issue a clarification on his comments while insisting that Russia cannot win the war against Ukraine.
The Russian government has warned that if NATO sends troops into Ukraine, the Kremlin would enter into a direct conflict with the alliance, risking global nuclear war.
“In this case, we need to talk not about the likelihood, but about the inevitability of a conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “These countries must also assess and be aware of this, asking themselves whether this is in their interests, as well as the interests of the citizens of their countries.”
WWIII Watch: Macron Floats Troops in Ukraine for First Time, Moscow Warns of ‘Inevitable’ War with NATOhttps://t.co/NjQbqHsN1Q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 27, 2024
Unlike Sikorski, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was among those in NATO who said the alliance should not send troops into Ukraine.
“Poland does not plan to send its troops to the territory of Ukraine,” the Polish prime minister said.
Sikorski argued that sending Western soldiers into Ukraine would signal that NATO is not afraid of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is not unthinkable,” Sikorski said, adding that he appreciated Macron’s suggestion “because it is about Putin being afraid, not us being afraid of Putin.”
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Tusk are set to travel to Washington, D.C., for a meeting at the White House. The Polish government hopes the U.S. will do more to support Ukraine in the country’s battle against Russia.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that Poland is a member of NATO along the alliance’s eastern flank. Notably, Ukraine is located to the east of the country’s border. Considering the proximity between both nations, Poland fears that if Russia defeats Ukraine, Putin would be incentivized into attacking other countries in a region that the Kremlin is interested in.
