Poland Should Not Rule Out Sending Troops to Ukraine: Foreign Minister

Poland should not rule out sending ground troops into Ukraine to help fight Russia, the government said on Tuesday, in the latest sign of divisions between Kyiv's Western backers on the issue.

Kyiv has been dependent on Western military aid in its fight with Moscow's forces but many of its allies remain uneasy about the prospect of sending troops into battle with Russian soldiers.

In February, French President Emmanuel Macron created uproar among fellow members of the US-led NATO defence alliance when he refused to rule out the despatch of Western troops to Ukraine.

But with Ukraine ceding ground in the face of a Russian offensive in the east, there are signs others among Kyiv's allies, including Poland, have begun to reconsider the idea.

Questioned on the prospect of sending Polish troops to fight in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Warsaw should "not rule out any option".

"Let (Russian President Vladimir) Putin guess what we are going to do," he said in an interview with three European newspapers, including Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza.

This was not the first time Sikorski has raised the possibility of sending NATO soldiers into Ukraine.

In March, he described the prospect as "not unthinkable".

"I appreciate French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative because it's about making Putin afraid, not us being afraid of Putin," Sikorski said on X.

In May, Macron reiterated his comments, saying the question of sending Western ground troops into Ukraine would "legitimately" arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request.

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Poland has been a staunch supporter of its neighbour Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022.