There is nothing to prevent NATO from deploying its troops on Ukrainian soil to act in training and assistance roles, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel has said, as a thorny debate over alliance limitations regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine develops.
Pavel—a former general who previously served as the chair of the NATO Military Committee—spoke with Czech television on Monday and did not say he was opposed to the official deployment of alliance troops to Ukraine, an idea recently raised in France and backed by several Baltic NATO allies.
"From the point of view of international law and the UN Charter, there would be nothing to prevent NATO member states' troops—as well as civilians, for example—from assisting in the work in Ukraine," Pavel said, as quoted by Euractiv.
Pavel noted that NATO established a training mission on Ukrainian soil after Russia's annexation of Crimea and fomentation of separatist rebellion in the eastern Donbas region in 2014.
Asked if he would support a renewed deployment, the president replied: "I would certainly not reject a debate on this issue.
"If we could agree with the allies that, for example, instead of training Ukrainian soldiers on the territory of NATO member states and transporting thousands of troops to, say, Poland or the Czech Republic, it would make much more sense to transport a few dozen instructors to Ukrainian territory and train Ukrainian soldiers there."
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry by email to request comment.
French President Emmanuel Macron unsettled some NATO allies last month when he suggested sending allied troops to Ukraine in support and advisory roles. Later intelligence leaks from Germany suggested that British and French personnel may already be in Ukraine helping Kyiv direct its Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile strikes.
Reticent allies fear that NATO deployment to Ukraine would raise the risk of a direct clash with Moscow. The Kremlin has said that sending allied troops to the country would make such a conflict inevitable.
Pavel—who is known as one of the alliance's more hawkish leaders on Russia—dismissed the distinction between massive Western materiel aid and "boots on the ground."
"Today, we are not only supplying Ukraine with small arms, we are supplying it with tanks, we may soon supply it with aircraft, we are supplying it with medium-range cruise missiles, and yet there has been no attack on NATO territory," he said.
"Russia knows full well that this would be a violation of the law of a much greater caliber than what it is doing now," Pavel added. "Helping to train and maintain equipment in a sovereign country is not combat."
Pavel made similar remarks at a press conference with Macron last week. Then, the Czech president said that any NATO mission should "stay within that limit of non-combat engagement."
Major NATO nations were more critical of Macron's suggestion that allied troops could be sent to Ukraine.
"There will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. His Defense Minister Boris Pistorius echoed the sentiment, adding such a deployment "is not an option for Germany."
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a briefing: "There's not going to be U.S. troops on the ground fighting inside Ukraine."
"And you know what? President [Volodymyr] Zelensky isn't asking for that," Kirby added. "He's just asking for the tools and capabilities. He's never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country."
Earlier this month, one European diplomatic official—who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to do so publicly—told Newsweek: "I doubt you can change Russia's calculus just by sending trainers to Ukraine."
A second official, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly, told Newsweek that the furore over Macron's proposal shows that the West "is paralyzed by fear." They added: "So far, all the 'red lines' we've crossed have not brought the Armageddon we're so afraid of."
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David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more
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