Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that European countries are not going to send troops to Ukraine to fight in the war, the Czech news agency CTK reported on Feb. 29.
Following the Feb. 26 summit of European leaders in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine can not be "ruled out" in the future, adding that there was no consensus on such a move.
According to Fiala, the discussion on the possible deployment of troops in Ukraine "took a minimal amount of time," and the issue would not be considered again.
"It's not a topic because this idea is unacceptable for the vast majority of countries. No one in Europe is going to send troops to Ukraine," the Czech prime minister noted.
He called not to "frighten people with things that no one has proposed and is not proposing in the way they are being interpreted."
After Macron's statement, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as well as leaders of Germany, the U.K., and other European NATO member states, ruled out sending Western troops to Ukraine.
Later, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas noted that European leaders should not exclude this possibility, saying this could be "a signal to Russia."
During a two-hour State of the Nation address on Feb. 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened "tragic consequences" if NATO troops were sent to Ukraine, claiming the West's support for Kyiv "risks a conflict using nuclear weapons."
Olena Goncharova
(Updated: )
