VIENNA, April 1. /TASS/. European servicemen will not take part in combat operations in Ukraine, such an option has already been ruled out, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
"We are training Ukrainians in the UK, 1,500 Ukrainians have already been trained here in Estonia and a large number in Poland. The question is whether we can do the same in Ukraine to speed up the training process, because each trip across the border takes time. But this does not mean that European soldiers will fight in the trenches in Ukraine. This option has already been ruled out," he told the newspaper Die Presse.
Pevkur added that French President Emmanuel Macron's words about sending the military to Ukraine "mainly refer to training."
"The reality is that every NATO member state already has military personnel in Ukraine, such as military attaches or people who go to Ukraine from time to time," he said.
Discussion of sending military personnel
On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that during a meeting in Paris where representatives of around 20 Western states discussed further support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow, the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine was raised. According to the French leader, participants did not reach a consensus on this issue, but such a scenario cannot be ruled out in the future. He later clarified his statement, explaining that "not ruling something out does not mean doing it." After the conference, representatives of most participating countries stated that they do not plan to send troops to Ukraine and are against their involvement in combat actions against Russia. However, the French leader, despite the criticism, assured that his words were "balanced, thoughtful and calibrated" and reiterated that he does not rule out the possibility of sending the military.
Later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that by sending troops to Ukraine, Macron meant sending the military to train Ukrainian servicemen in the country, not outside it.