Estonian Prime Minister: NATO's training of soldiers in Ukraine will not lead to war escalation
Kyiv • UNN
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas claims that the training of NATO soldiers in Ukraine will not automatically escalate the war with Russia and will not trigger Article 5 of the NATO Mutual Defense Treaty.
NATO allies should not fear that sending troops to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers could lead to the Alliance's involvement in a war with Russia, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said, UNN reports citing the Financial Times.
Details
In an interview with the Financial Times, Kaja Kallas said that "there are countries that are already training soldiers locally," and they do so at their own risk. According to her, if Russian troops attacked the training personnel, it would not automatically trigger Article 5 on NATO's mutual defense.
"I can't imagine that if someone gets hurt there, those who sent their people will say: "This is Article 5. Let's... bomb Russia. It doesn't happen like that. It doesn't happen automatically. So these fears are not grounded," the Estonian minister said.
She also added that "if you send your people to help Ukrainians ... you know that the country is at war, and you are going into a risk zone. Therefore, you are taking a risk."
According to Ukrainian and Western officials, Kyiv needs to recruit and train hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the coming months, and it would be more efficient to do so in Ukraine rather than transporting soldiers and weapons to and from Poland or Germany.
In Estonia, such a move would require parliamentary approval, Kallas said. "It's an open public discussion, but I think we shouldn't rule anything out now," she said.
Kallas argues that helping to train Ukrainian troops on their own territory, rather than somewhere in Europe, will not be escalatory.
"Russia's propaganda is that it is at war with NATO, so they don't need a reason. Whatever we do on our part... If they want to attack, they will attack," the Estonian prime minister said.
The Estonian leader said that Ukraine's allies do not have a common goal in Ukraine: some, like Estonia, are in favor of Ukraine's victory, while others want it not to lose.
"We can only have the goal of victory, but Ukraine will determine what kind of victory it is," she said, adding that Ukraine defines victory as the complete liberation of its territory.
Context
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, arguing that it was important to keep Moscow guessing about how far the West would go to help Kyiv. In response, most NATO members refused to send troops to Ukraine.
