One by one, several countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ruled out this Tuesday, February 27, sending soldiers from their armies to fight in Ukraine. The United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Germany ruled out direct participation in the conflict just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened a larger war if Western allies got involved on the ground. These reactions come a day after President Emmanuel Macron left the possibility of sending Alliance troops up in the air: “Nothing should be excluded, we will do everything necessary to guarantee that Russia cannot win,” said the French president. .
“No European or NATO soldiers will be sent to Ukraine”. With this statement, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out support on the ground for the attacked country, which faces a difficult situation in the face of the Russian invasion due to the lack of soldiers and weapons.
“What was agreed between us from the beginning also applies to the future. That is, there will be no ground troops or soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO States,” Scholz stressed this Tuesday, February 27.
A day earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron, who led a conference of European leaders in Paris in support of kyiv, indicated that he does not rule out sending troops from Western allies to Ukrainian territory and announced a coalition for the delivery of missiles to the Ukrainian Army.
Although Macron warned that there was still no consensus for the movement of Alliance soldiers, his words suggested that the possibility had at least been addressed among the partners.
In recent hours, more leaders from nations that are part of the political-military alliance, led by the United States, have joined in refusing to send troops.
“Beyond the small number of personnel we have in the country supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces, we do not have any plans for a large-scale deployment,” said a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, referring to a large number of Ukrainian troops being trained on British territory.
The spokesperson stressed that London supports Kiev with military equipment and other supplies to face the invasion of Moscow.
The prime ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic also spoke in this regard, while offering a joint press conference in Prague.
“Poland does not plan to send its troops to the territory of Ukraine,” said the premier of that country, Donald Tusk, after being questioned about it.
His Czech counterpart, Petr Fiala, added: “I think we do not need to open other methods or paths (…) I am convinced that we should develop the support paths that we undertook after Russia's aggression.”
Likewise, a White House official indicated that The United States has no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine, nor does NATO.
Russia threatens Western allies with “inevitable” conflict
The avalanche of statements on European soil and in the United States rejecting the possibility of sending troops to the country attacked by Moscow came shortly after the Kremlin launched new threats about a full-scale war.
“The very fact of discussing the possibility of sending certain contingents to Ukraine from NATO countries is a very important new element (…) In that case, we would not have to talk about the probability, but about the inevitability (of a direct conflict ),” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitry Peskov, when questioned by the press about Macron's comments.
Peskov added that the West should ask itself whether such a scenario would be in the best interest of its countries and people.
Moscow calls for new advances in eastern Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on February 27 that its troops took control of the village of Severne, near the recently captured city of Avdiivka, in the east of the attacked country. Information that has not been able to be independently verified.
A day before, the forces of the invading country also they claimed the capture of the village of Lastochkine, in the vicinity of Avdiivka yeThe kyiv Army admitted that it withdrew from the scene.
Ukraine urges its allies to deliver more weapons and ammunitionas well as other crucial elements – such as combat aircraft – to strengthen its air operations, where it is at a disadvantage.
Warsaw and Prague promote arms purchases for Ukraine
Although they indicated that they will not send troops, both the prime minister of Poland and the Czech Republic highlighted this Tuesday that agreed to cooperate in the purchase of hundreds of thousands of ammunition, from countries outside Europe, for kyiv. Therefore, they are looking for allies for financing.
EU partners have pledged to send one million ammunition – and other materials – to Ukraine before the end of next March.
However, only 524,000 shells will be delivered before the deadlineas admitted last Wednesday, February 21, by the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
Europe has launched programs to jointly procure ammunition produced by the European defense industry and boost manufacturing capabilities.
However, there are delays in the production and delivery due to factors ranging from community bureaucracy, clashes of national interests to lack of unification of criteria for manufacturing war material, according to an investigation carried out by Lighthouse Reports and other European media. Some countries have also indicated that they cannot deliver all the supplies they have to kyiv, leaving their armies unprotected.
Faced with the slowdown, Warsaw and Prague are promoting procurement outside the EU, but they face reluctance from other partners, both the EU and NATO. Slovakia and Hungary oppose continuing to send military aid to Ukrainian territory.
In fact, this Tuesday the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, assured that his nation is not willing to send weapons or troops to Ukraine and that this position is “solid as a rock.”
However, the French Government stressed this Tuesday, through its Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, that Paris will do “whatever is necessary” to thwart Russia's occupationist ambitions in Ukraine.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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