Poland’s foreign minister says the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is ‘not unthinkable’

WARSAW – Poland’s foreign minister says the presence of NATO forces “is not unthinkable” and that he appreciates the French president for now not ruling out that concept.

Radek Sikorski made the commentary all over a dialogue marking the twenty fifth anniversary of Poland’s NATO club in the Polish parliament on Friday, and the Foreign Ministry tweeted the feedback later in English.

Last month French President Emmanuel Macron said the risk of Western troops being sent to Ukraine may now not be dominated out, a remark that triggered an outcry from other leaders.

French officers later sought to explain Macron’s remarks and tamp down the backlash, whilst insisting on the want to ship a transparent sign to Russia that it can not win its battle in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has warned that if NATO sends struggle troops, a right away battle between the alliance and Russia could be inevitable. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated any such transfer would risk a global nuclear conflict.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk was once amongst the ones European leaders who dominated out sending troops to Ukraine after Macron’s remarks, announcing: “Poland does not plan to send its troops to the territory of Ukraine.”

Sikorski did not speak of a plan to send Polish troops to Ukraine, but struck a different tone.

“The presence of #NATO forces in Ukraine is not unthinkable,” he said, according to the Foreign Ministry. He said he appreciated Macron’s initiative “because it is about Putin being afraid, not us being afraid of Putin.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Tusk will shuttle to Washington for a gathering at the White House subsequent Tuesday. The Poles are hoping to spur the United States to do extra to lend a hand Ukraine.

Poland is a member of NATO alongside the alliance’s japanese flank, with Ukraine throughout its japanese border. The nation has been beneath Russian keep an eye on in the previous, and fears run prime that if Russia wins in Ukraine, it might subsequent goal different international locations in a area that Moscow perspectives as its sphere of pastime.