Zelenskyy on sending NATO troops to Ukraine: 'I don’t see it, except in words'

Archive photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

Sending Western troops to Ukraine is an independent decision of each NATO member, but no one has offered us anything yet, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated.

The President called the decision to send troops to Ukraine an independent one for each state, including NATO members.

"Undoubtedly, as a country at war, we would positively welcome any assistance, and we would support such a decision," he said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy emphasized that no one had offered Ukraine anything yet.

"The first signals came through the media. They came from France, from Emmanuel Macron. We talked with him about what he means. There’s logic in two things that I definitely understood. This includes training on Ukrainian territory, simply speeding up the process, without having to send your brigade somewhere else, to one country or another, and then it returns. And there’s also the need for adaptation time here in the conditions of war," said the President.

Ukraine is in favor of sending NATO troops

The President emphasized that training in Ukraine would be faster and that equipment repair centers would be built.

"But there are a lot of media words behind this. So far, this idea hasn’t gone anywhere. I don’t see it, except in words. But, nonetheless, how can anyone be against this? We are only in favor," said Zelenskyy.

At the same time, he emphasizes that he does not yet fully understand how this corresponds to reality and whether it’s true and possible. He thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for his courage but emphasized that it was necessary to understand what he was really willing to do, what it could be, and how it could help.

Talks about sending NATO troops to Ukraine

This year, Macron began to discuss publicly the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, but there were no specifics.

Recently, The New York Times wrote that NATO allies are gradually moving towards a decision to send their troops to Ukraine. They would be used to train Ukrainian forces.