He said, “There are countries that are ready to send their troops to Ukraine, there are countries that say never – Slovakia is among them – and there are countries that say this proposal should be considered.”
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who is set to join NATO, poured cold water on the idea, saying “it is not in the plans at all at the moment”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a brief message on X: “We agreed that everyone should do more for Ukraine in Paris yesterday. Ukraine needs weapons, ammunition and air defense. We are working on it. “It is clear: there will be no ground forces from European countries or NATO.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if NATO troops appear in Ukraine, we would need to talk “not about the possibility but the inevitability” of a confrontation.
“This is absolutely not in the interest of these countries, they should be aware of this,” he said.
A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that there are “no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine” despite “unprecedented military support” from the alliance.
The Italian government said that support for Ukraine does not include sending troops.
