“We shouldn’t rule anything out.” Finland’s foreign minister spoke about sending NATO troops to Ukraine

In an interview with the Financial Times, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen did not rule out the possibility of sending foreign troops to Ukraine, although according to her there is no need for it at the moment. French President Emmanuel Macron made similar comments earlier, saying that France may at some point be forced to conduct ground operations in eastern Europe to counter Russian forces.

Valtonen believes that French President Emmanuel Macron did the right thing by forcing Russia to think about the limits of Western support for Ukraine. “We are not even willing to discuss it at this stage. But in the long term, of course, we shouldn’t rule anything out,” the minister emphasized.

Earlier, the words of Emmanuel Macron were supported by the Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė. “What I liked about President Macron’s two recent statements was that he said why should we impose red lines when Putin basically has no red lines,” she said.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, in turn, added that Macron’s statements had woken up European leaders a bit. “Instead of soldiers, it is safer to send weapons and money to Ukraine,” he responded to the words of the French president. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has led calls for the EU to issue a common defense debt. Finland also supported this idea. According to Elina Valtonenová, “they have nothing against it”.

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron caused a stir with his remarks. According to him, Western allies should not rule out sending troops to Ukraine. A number of countries, including the Czech Republic, have stated that they are not going to send troops to Ukraine. Other states, especially from the eastern wing of NATO, supported the head of the Elysee Palace on the contrary. Among other things, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that NATO countries would risk a nuclear conflict by sending their troops to Ukraine. The head of Russian civilian intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, has warned that French troops will become a legitimate and priority target for the Russian military in Ukraine.

Later, the head of the Elysee Palace explained that the thesis about the possible sending of Western soldiers to Ukraine was primarily a signal for Russia, which otherwise will stop at nothing. “Perhaps at some point — I don’t want it, I won’t initiate it ⁠— it will be necessary to conduct ground operations, whatever they may be, to counter the Russian forces,” Macron said in an interview after returning from Berlin, where he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “The strength of France is that we can do it,” he added.