NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that European countries are ready to send troops to Ukraine if Russia violates the peace agreement, reports „Bild“.
„Of course, we are not discussing details publicly at the moment. But I can say that several European countries have expressed their readiness to provide troops if necessary“, Rutte replied to a question on the subject.
Work is currently underway to determine the exact structure of the „coalition of the willing“, Rutte added. It is necessary to determine what the deployment of forces on land, at sea and in the air will look like. „All these elements are currently being developed“, stressed the secretary general of the alliance.
In response to a question about US plans to withdraw troops from Europe, Rutte noted that the Europeans have made it clear to Washington that they are “acting“: “And the US has made it clear that it will remain committed to Europe – both nuclear and conventional. Withdrawing troops from Europe is not on the agenda.“
Security guarantees for Ukraine have become a key topic in negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict. This was also discussed at the meeting between Kiev and Washington on December 15 in Berlin. According to The Wall Street Journal, the United States has offered Ukraine guarantees similar to those provided for in Article 5 of the NATO treaty - an attack on one member of the alliance is perceived as an attack on the entire bloc.
The New York Times reported that the guarantees include strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces, the deployment of European troops as a deterrent and increased US intelligence activity.
In early December, the German ruling coalition (Merz's CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which includes former Chancellor Olaf Scholz) considered sending German troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Kiev.
Russia will not accept any scenario involving the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Security guarantees must be provided for all parties, he stressed.