Every NATO member has military personnel in Ukraine – Estonia — RT World News
The Defense Minister said that Western advisers and trainers are actively supporting Kiev's forces against Russia
Estonian Defense Minister Hannu Pefkur claimed on Monday that every NATO member already has military personnel in Ukraine. In an interview with the Austrian media outlet Di Presse, the minister stressed that forces from the US-led bloc would not participate under any circumstances in hostilities against Russia.
Pevkor told the outlet that NATO soldiers are working in the embattled country as advisors and are involved in training Ukrainian soldiers in Poland, the United Kingdom and Estonia. He added that Western defense officials are currently planning to establish training camps in Ukraine in an attempt to avoid problems at border crossings and speed up the preparation process.
Meanwhile, Pefkor insisted that there is no talk of NATO soldiers directly fighting in the conflict, noting that “This has already been ruled out.”
“The reality is that every NATO member state already has military personnel in Ukraine, such as military attaches or people who travel to Ukraine from time to time.” The official said. “What [French] president [Emmanuel] Macron said it was mainly about staff training. he added.
Macron publicly raised the possibility of deploying NATO forces on the ground in Ukraine last February, saying that… 'We can't rule anything out' And that the West “We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
Remarks that Macron later described as such “Weigh, think, and measure.” This sparked a wave of denials from the vast majority of NATO countries and the bloc's leadership. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg publicly refuted the idea shortly after Macron's initial statement, saying there were no plans to deploy troops to Ukraine. Several Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have also denied any such plans.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that any deployment of NATO forces to Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield, given that Western soldiers are already active in the country as military advisers and mercenaries. However, he warned of the consequences of such a move “tragic”.
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