If hostilities in Ukraine are ended by a peace agreement, Ukrainian troops could be deployed to help defend the EU's eastern borders from Russia, European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius said on Monday, UNN reports with reference to Politico.
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"It would be good if the battle-hardened Ukrainian army, after peace is established in Ukraine, would be ready to be present in all countries of our border region, starting with the Baltic region and Lithuania, alongside the German brigade and rotating US battalions," Kubilius said in Vilnius.
"This is a very distant prospect for now, given that the Russian military continues its exhausting and bloody offensive in eastern Ukraine," and Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin "has shown no signs of interest in a compromise" that could end the fighting, the publication writes.
However, Ukraine, the publication notes, "has the most experienced military in Europe, which would be invaluable to other allies." "Kubilius's call came as previous promises to admit Ukraine to NATO fell through due to resistance from the US and other allies," the publication writes.
Kubilius, a former Prime Minister of Lithuania, stressed that any Ukrainian deployment would not undermine Germany's deployment of an armored brigade to Lithuania, the presence of US troops in the region, and NATO's collective defense provisions under Article 5.
"We Lithuanians have learned from our history that it is better to have multiple security guarantees," he said, adding that NATO's Article 5 should be reinforced by the EU's own security provisions "with a clear mechanism for their implementation."