Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said NATO leaders should consider "everything" when they're discussing how to prevent Russia from winning its war against Ukraine.
Kallas made the statement during a Thursday interview with the Politico podcast Power Play when asked about French President Emmanuel Macron's recent suggestion that Western soldiers could bolster Ukraine's defenses in the 2-year-old war.
None of Kyiv's Western allies have committed troops to the war, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this week that Western troops becoming involved in the conflict would result in the "inevitability" of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
While speaking at a press conference on Monday, Macron said "nothing should be excluded" in terms of helping Kyiv "prevent Russia from winning this war." Kallas agreed with the French leader's sentiment, saying Western leaders should explore all possible avenues to aid Kyiv.
"I think it is also the signals that we are sending to Russia, that we are not ruling out different things," Kallas said during the talk on Power Play. "Because all the countries have understood that we have to do everything so that Ukraine wins and Russia loses this war."
When contacted for comment, Kallas provided Newsweek with a statement.
"We must act now to help Ukraine. We have no time to waste. Ukraine needs weapons and ammunition first and foremost. So, in this regard, we need to reinforce the European defense industry with investments and orders to give the market a signal. This will also benefit the European economy. It is also important to look for ammunition which is available beyond the EU on the world market, as for example the Czechs have already done. This is an important initiative and Estonia welcomes it," the statement read.
The message continued: "Together we can help Ukraine win this war. We have the resources, the economic power, and the knowledge. Our strength is stronger than Russia's and we should not be afraid of our own power."
Kallas made similar comments in an interview with German magazine Stern that was published on Thursday.
"We should not be afraid of our own power and should not overestimate Russia's power. The fear of escalation leads us to make ourselves smaller than we are. That's wrong," Kallas told Stern. "Russia knows that NATO is militarily superior and does not want a conflict with NATO any more than we do with Russia."
However, despite Macron's suggestion, several officials from NATO countries said they would not support putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Hungary.
On Tuesday, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a press conference at the White House that President Joe Biden was "crystal-clear" in his opposition to sending U.S. or NATO troops to Ukraine. But he added that the possibility of France or other NATO nations sending troops to Ukraine was a "sovereign decision that every NATO ally would have to make for themselves."
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also denied such a step would be taken by the alliance in the near future.
"NATO allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. We have done that since 2014 and stepped up after the full-scale invasion. But there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine," Stoltenberg told the Associated Press.
Update 03/04/24 5:45 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Kallas' office.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
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