German and Polish officials pour cold water on troop deployments to Ukraine

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has categorically rejected the French president’s suggestion.

Discussions about NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine need to end, because nobody actually wants that to happen, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday.

Pistorius was in Finland to visit the German troops taking part in NATO’s Nordic Response wargames in the Arctic Circle. While there, he held a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Antti Hakkanen.

“Nobody really wants to have boots on the ground in Ukraine,” Pistorius said, responding to a question about recent remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron suggesting that the matter was open-ended.

Discussions about that “should stop,” he added.

“Nobody is now supporting ‘boots on the ground’,” Hakkanen agreed.

Macron said last week that no option should be ruled out, including ground troops, because Russia can’t be allowed to win. Only two Baltic states endorsed the idea, however, with most other NATO members publicly denouncing it.

Pistorius argued that what the West needs to do instead is ramp up the delivery of ammunition and equipment to the Ukrainian military.

“Germany is the second-largest supporter of Ukraine world wide,” donating €7.5 billion ($8.2 billion) this year alone, Pistorius noted, adding that Berlin has sent “air defense, artillery, ammunition, what[ever] Ukraine needs.”

Addressing questions about Germany’s decision not to send Ukrainie its long-range Taurus missiles, Pistorius said that would be a step too far.

“We always emphasize that long-range missiles won’t decide that war,” he told reporters, adding that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said “there is one decisive line we never will cross, and this is being participants, being party to the war.”

Last week, RT published an audio recording and a transcript of a conversation between senior German Luftwaffe (air force) officers from mid-February, in which they discussed the use of Taurus missiles to destroy the Crimean Bridge. The generals assumed the missiles would be delivered and tried to come up with ways of helping Ukraine use them while maintaining plausible deniability.

Russia has repeatedly warned the US and its allies that deliveries of weapons to Ukraine will not prevent Moscow from achieving the goals of its military operation, and will only serve to prolong the fighting and increase the risk of a direct confrontation with NATO.

Poland refuses to send troops to Ukraine

Warsaw will not send troops to Ukraine, yet it is set to continue helping Kiev via other means, Polish Defense Minister Wladysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has said.

The minister was asked about the likelihood that NATO might deploy troops to Ukraine as he spoke to the broadcaster TVN24 on Thursday. While Kosiniak-Kamysz avoided speaking for the whole US-led bloc, he stated that “the Polish Army will not be in Ukraine.”

“We will help, we will continue the support. We are making further donations of equipment. There is a lot to it,” the minister stated.

Warsaw also supports and participates in all of NATO’s joint initiatives, such as providing intelligence and training to the Ukrainian forces, Kosiniak-Kamysz said. The minister also described Poland as “the leader together with Germany” of the “coalition” to supply tanks and other armored vehicles to Kiev.

The enduring support of Kiev is beneficial for Poland itself, and Warsaw regards it as an “investment,” he noted.

“All these initiatives are aimed at making Poland safe. Helping the Ukrainian army is an investment in Poland’s security,” he explained.

Poland was once one of the top backers of Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia, lavishing military aid on the country and urging other Western nations to follow suit. In recent months, however, the ties have seemingly grown colder, largely due to Poland’s internal economic troubles and the ongoing protests of local farmers, hurt by the flow of cheap Ukrainian agricultural produce.

The minister’s remarks come amid the continuing wave of denial from NATO members that they harbor any plans to deploy combat troops to Ukraine, triggered by a statement French President Emmanuel Macron made in late February. At the time, Macron said the West “cannot exclude” the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine, for which he faced a backlash from most members of the US-led bloc.

The pushback, however, has seemingly left Macron unshaken, with the French president producing increasingly belligerent remarks and insisting that Western Europeans “will have to live up to history and the courage that it requires.”