Slovak premier hints at Nato sending troops to Ukraine

Prague/Brussels — Several Nato and EU members were considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday.

Fico, who has long opposed military supplies to Ukraine and has taken a position seen by some critics as pro-Russian, offered no details and other European leaders did not immediately comment on his remarks. He was speaking before a meeting of European leaders in Paris that he is due to attend later on Monday.

Preparations for the Paris meeting “imply a number of Nato and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis”, Fico told a televised briefing after a meeting of Slovakia’s security council.

“I cannot say for what purpose and what they should be doing there,” he said, adding that Slovakia, a member of the EU and Nato, would not send soldiers to Ukraine.

Members of Nato have supplied billions of dollar in arms and ammunition to Kyiv and are training Ukrainian forces. But Nato leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have underlined that the Western military alliance wanted to avoid a direct conflict with Russia, which could lead to a global war.

“Neither Nato nor Nato allies are party to the conflict,” Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on February 14.

Nato had no immediate comment on Fico’s remarks.

Asked about the comments, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said: “The Czech Republic certainly is not preparing to send any soldiers to Ukraine, no-one has to worry about that.”

Fico said he saw a risk of a large escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and more information could not be revealed to the public.

About 20 European leaders, including Fico, will gather in Paris on Monday to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is bound to win a war now entering its third year, France said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has invited European leaders to the Élysée Palace for a working meeting announced at short notice because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression over the past few weeks.

Fico said calling the meeting showed the West’s strategy on Ukraine had failed. He said he was going to take part in a constructive spirit though the material for discussions sent “shivers down his spine”.

Reuters