Berlin [Germany], February 28: Germany and Poland on Tuesday categorically ruled out sending their troops to Ukraine to help Kiev win its war against invading Russian forces.
Their denial came after French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday night that deploying Western troops to Ukraine has not been "ruled out." Macron made the extraordinary comment at the conclusion of a meeting of European leaders and other Western officials in Paris, where they discussed bolstering military support for Ukraine as the full-scale Russian invasion goes into its third year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was at the Paris meeting, summarized the talks differently than Macron. The German leader said on Tuesday the participants had agreed that "there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European states or NATO states."
Poland is not planning to send any soldiers, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala in Prague.
He said that the focus should be on providing Ukraine with maximum support in its military efforts against the Russian invasion. Tusk did not comment as to whether this view could change in the future under different circumstances.
Fiala referred to a Czech initiative that aims to procure artillery ammunition from third countries and deliver it to Kiev in cooperation with other European states such as the Netherlands. Tusk added that if all European Union member states were as committed as the Czech Republic and Poland, there would be no need to discuss other forms of support.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation