Western countries may send military instructors to Ukraine to train the soldiers, provided proper air defense is ensured, according to Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
As noted by Šimonytė, Lithuanian military instructors currently train Ukrainian soldiers on Lithuanian territory and in other countries.
“Could they be trained in Ukraine? With proper air defense, it is certainly possible to manage these risks,” the Prime Minister stated.
She also noted that specialists could be sent to Ukraine to help Kyiv with cyber security, demining, and border protection.
According to the head of the Lithuanian government, President Emmanuel Macron's words about sending troops were interpreted as a proposal to participate in combat operations.
“There are different forms of assistance or ways of getting involved. I think what President Macron said, and what is key, is that we should not draw red lines for ourselves when on the other side we have a person who has no red lines and who has a nuclear threat and waves it every other day,” she said.
Macron's initiative to send troops to Ukraine
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility that NATO could deploy troops to assist Ukraine, sparking a discussion among Ukraine's allies.
France later clarified that it was not about sending troops directly to take part in combat operations. Some NATO countries expressed readiness to consider such a possibility, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Canada.
However, the majority of countries did not support Macron's position. Moreover, according to Western media reports, Macron's unexpected statement further strained his relationship with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.