Under certain conditions: Prystaiko explains what functions NATO troops could perform in Ukraine

Sending NATO troops to Ukraine is possible under certain conditions. There are different ways in which they can help the Ukrainian Armed Forces. One of them may involve the deployment of pilots and personnel on our territory to service the aircraft that are to appear in Ukraine soon.

This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to OBOZ.UA by Ukrainian diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko, commenting on French President Macron's statement about the possible deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine.

"Some time ago, I said that in the event of a catastrophic development of events at the front, countries, especially Britain, will be with us. This is a normal way when we are short of forces and our partners have limited supplies of weapons and ammunition. Of course, the Europeans have fallen into the trap of their past statements when they said that their soldiers would never participate in the war in Ukraine. Now we need to get out of this situation, but we need to understand how sensitive this is for democratic regimes.

The first thing they say is, "Let's do anything for Ukraine to keep our soldiers out of the Ukrainian steppes. But the war shows that you can't run away from this, so you have to prepare for it.

I think that at this stage, unfortunately for us, Macron's statement is still a play on words, but Putin, when he says that he has not achieved all his goals in Ukraine, is also playing with words to aggravate. For their part, the Europeans say that we have something to raise the degree of confrontation. For example, we can supply Ukraine with long-range missiles or send troops," Vadym Prystayko notes.

As for the options for the use of Western troops, the diplomat believes there are several. They could be deployed in the western part of Ukraine, somewhere in the Transnistrian region. In this way, the armed forces of the partner countries will help Ukraine, so to speak, to transfer its resources to the eastern flank.

"We can also imagine the deployment of NATO forces to help Ukraine secure its border with Belarus," Vadym Prystaiko continues, "This is also a possible option. This will free up our troops, and allow them to rest and train. There may be other participation. For example, it could be pilots or special personnel for aircraft maintenance. It can be anything. We need any participation," said Vadym Prystaiko.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

On February 26, European leaders gathered in Paris to discuss urgent ways to help Ukraine and send a signal to the Russian president about Europe's determination to support Ukraine.

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