On Monday evening, multilateral plenary talks on the war in Ukraine ended at the Elysée Palace. Among those who participated were: Polish President Andrzej Duda. On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron invited the leaders to talk about strengthening cooperation in support of Kiev.
Even before the meeting, several statements from European leaders emerged, which caused great confusion around the war in Ukraine.
First, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that “some NATO and EU members are considering sending troops to Ukraine.” This would mean going to war with Russia. At the same time, he stated directly that Slovakia would not send a single soldier to the front line.
Emmanuel Macron expressed the same thing future deployment of Western ground forces to Ukraine should not be “excluded.”although he said, at the current stage “there is no consensus” on this issue.
— At this stage, there is no agreement to send troops to Ukraine, Macron said. — We will do whatever it takes to prevent Russia from winning. – added.
Poland says “no”
I don’t want to hear about sending troops to the front. Poland. President Andrzej Duda spoke about it on Monday evening. – There is no agreement on this, no decisions have been taken – he said.
On Tuesday morning, Deputy Minister of National Defense Cezary Tomczyk struck a similar chord. — There is no such project or idea in Poland. We have to discuss security issues in the privacy of our offices, because this is a very sensitive issue, he said on Polsat News.
In the morning, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who took part in the Visegrad Group meeting in Prague, was asked about the same issue. — Poland has no plans to send its troops to Ukraine, he stressed.
— I believe that we should not speculate about the future, whether there will be circumstances that will change this position. We must now focus, as the Polish and Czech governments do, on supporting Ukraine as much as possible in its military efforts, the Polish head of government said.
See also: Polish troops in Ukraine? Tusk’s clear statement
Experts are reluctant to speculate.
Experts we asked about hypothetical military involvement were also reluctant to theorize. – This is not the place and time to practice “ifology” – we heard from one of the generals who did not want to be named.
Another military expert simply added that even if by some miracle such a decision was made in Poland, “of course no one would take the reserves and send them to the front.” – Besides, Poland’s position is quite clear here, so there is nothing to talk about – he said.
The Polish authorities’ position was also supported by Janusz Zemke, former deputy minister of national defense in the governments of Leszek Miller and Marek Belka. During his reign Poland sent contingents to Afghanistan and Iraq as part of a decision made at a NATO summit following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
— I remember very well the funeral of Polish soldiers who died in this mission. There were no more traumatic experiences, Zemke recalled in an interview with Business Insider.
He stressed that the possible involvement of Polish troops in Ukraine would be an unprecedented event. — Please remember that Ukraine is not a NATO country or even an EU country, but a sovereign state. Any assistance requires very detailed contracts and agreements. There is no room for speculation here, the former deputy defense minister said.
— I am strongly against such direct involvement, because Poland would be involved in the war.. This means losses. No war ends without bloodshed – explained the interlocutor to Business Insider Polska.
However, at the same time, he assured that Ukraine should be helped. – There are many possibilities. Starting with the provision of weapons, which we have already implemented. The next step is to participate in the renovation and modernization of weapons, which I think we still have a lot to do, he said.
See also: French President on sending troops to Ukraine: this cannot be ruled out in the future
— In addition, there is also training for the Ukrainian army and, finally, medical assistance. There are many wounded people there who need to be treated somewhere, Janusz Zemke said.
Polish army in recent years they have participated in many overseas missions, but usually these activities are peacekeeping or stabilization activities.. National Defense Ministry data shows nearly 1,400 troops are participating in the activities carried out under the auspices of the UN, NATO and the European Union.
This includes, among others: military contingents in Turkey, Kosovo, the Central African Republic, Romania, Lebanon and Latvia.
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