Polish minister:

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British soldiers during a NATO exercise in Poland

(Bild: APA/AFP/Wojtek Radwanski)

At the end of February, French President Emmanuel Macron declared on the sidelines of a Ukraine aid conference in Paris that "nothing is out of the question" in order to achieve the goal in Ukraine, including the deployment of NATO ground troops. A short time later, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hinted that British and French soldiers were already directly involved in the deployment of long-range missiles. The clumsy wording caused great disgruntlement within the military alliance. Now the Polish Foreign Minister has added fuel to the debate with a statement.

Radoslaw Sikorski declared at a conference to mark the 25th anniversary of Poland's accession to NATO that "soldiers from NATO countries are already in Ukraine". "I would like to thank the countries that are taking this risk. They know who they are," Sikorski continued. Excerpts from the conference were published on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski

(Bild: AP)

It is unclear which countries the Polish minister was referring to. What is known, however, is that since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, volunteers from several NATO countries have been fighting for the Ukrainian army - for example in the "International Legion". However, these men and women are of course not officially in the service of their countries.

The Russian government sees the volunteers as "mercenaries" and speaks of evidence of a NATO proxy war. The Kremlin has also repeatedly emphasized that the Western alliance is waging a "hybrid war" against Russia. Sikorski's statement fits right into the picture. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told the newspaper "Izvestia" on Sunday: "There is no point in denying this."

Ukraine has been fighting against the Russian occupiers for more than two years. It has received massive support from the West in the form of funding, weapons, ammunition and training.

(Bild: AP)

British soldiers during a NATO exercise in Poland

(Bild: APA/AFP/Wojtek Radwanski)

Putin: "Can hit targets on NATO territory"
In response to the recent ground troops debate, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in his State of the Union address almost two weeks ago that if NATO countries were to send troops to Ukraine to fight against Russia, the consequences of such a move could be "far more tragic" than in previous conflicts. Putin drew the West's attention to the potential of the Russian military: "They should finally realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory." He did not explicitly mention nuclear weapons until he accused the West of creating the danger of a nuclear conflict.