Italian defence minister opposes sending troops to Ukraine
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said he opposes sending Western troops to Ukraine as that would stand in the way of diplomacy.
Source: Crosetto in an interview with La Stampa, as reported by European Pravda
Details: "Sending troops to Ukraine would be a step towards unilateral escalation, which would stand in the way of diplomacy. There is no point thinking about this now, after two years of the war," Crosetto said.
He added that when they say that the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out, France and Poland speak for themselves and not on behalf of the rest of NATO, which has "formally and voluntarily stayed away from the war".
Crosetto said that over the course of the past year, Western countries have reached production levels that will help ensure a sustained supply of weapons for Ukraine, though he admitted that they were still lower than Russia’s production levels.
"We need to give Kyiv all the support we can, without holding back, but we also have to think about helping Ukrainians reclaim their freedom, territory, and security in another way: by more forcefully and assertively activating diplomatic avenues," Crosetto said.
Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Crosetto said he hoped that their efforts will result in progress.
Background:
- UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has expressed his opposition to sending Western troops to Ukraine, even for training missions.
- Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron noted that a possible deployment of Western troops to Ukraine "cannot be ruled out". He later added that his words, which have caused a stir, had been carefully thought through.
- Macron recently reiterated his statement that "we cannot rule out" the possible deployment of Western troops in Ukraine.
- Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski believes that the presence of Western troops in Ukraine "is not something unthinkable".
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