“Some types of weapons have an expiration date, it is better to give them to Ukraine” (VIDEO)

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has ruled out the possibility of Western troops entering Ukraine. He stated this in a BBC themed podcast regarding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict – Ukrainecast.

NATO member countries, according to Cameron, do not want to give Russian President Vladimir Putin a “target” in the form of Western troops. The minister stressed that the UK would use NATO architecture to support Kyiv, but drew a distinction between NATO’s mission “for Ukraine” and “in Ukraine”.

“I think there is no escalation in saying that we will help this sovereign [стране]. <…> NATO can do a lot to better coordinate the assistance we provide to Ukraine,” he explained.

Cameron added that aid to Ukraine is a matter of “political will.” “Do we have enough patience? Do we have the desire? Are we willing to provide resources? In the case of Britain, of course, the answer is positive,” the minister emphasized.

NATO countries did not send troops to Ukraine, nor did they use their air force to impose a no-fly zone over the country due to fears that such actions might provoke a direct conflict with Russia, the BBC notes. At the same time, according to the publication, the military operation in Ukraine led to the resumption of conscription into the army, especially in countries located near Russia.

Cameron, responding to a question regarding concerns that the conflict might spread beyond the Ukrainian border, in particular to Poland and the Baltic states, assured that NATO would intervene in these circumstances in accordance with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, according to which “an attack on one is an attack.” for everyone”.

Among other things, the head of the British Foreign Office called on countries supporting Ukraine to take a “step forward”, without which Kyiv might lose the conflict. He also called for an increase in arms supplies.

“Some weapons have an expiration date. It’s much better to give it to Ukraine and they can use it than to decommission it at home, which actually costs you money,” he said.

and next week the foreign minister will travel to the United States. On the Ukrainecast, he said that during his visit he intends to urge the US Congress to increase financial support, which might “change the course of events” in Ukraine.

He said NATO would have to work with whoever wins this year’s US presidential election, so now is “the time” to get the bloc in the “best shape possible by November.”

“If we can get this money from the US Congress, if we can provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons. <…> If we can do all this, whoever comes to power in November, we will look at the situation in Ukraine <…> and look at the increasing number of NATO members spending 2% of their GDP on defense, and let’s say: this is a success story. I want to invest in this success,” Cameron concluded.

At the end of February, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine. He noted that there is currently no consensus on sending ground troops in an official, intended and approved manner, “but nothing can be ruled out in the future.” The head of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, in turn, claimed that Macron spoke regarding the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine if the front advances towards Odessa or Kyiv.

The possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine was also admitted by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, but many Western leaders publicly denied plans to deploy their troops in Ukraine. In particular, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said that the issue of sending troops “is not on the agenda,” and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala noted that “the Czech Republic is certainly not preparing to send military personnel to Ukraine.” Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke regarding NATO’s lack of plans to send troops to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict zone.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a direct conflict between Russia and NATO would become “inevitable” if the alliance’s military appeared on Ukrainian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly repeated that Moscow has no intention of attacking NATO countries. According to Putin, Russia does not have any problems with the countries of the alliance, but they “artificially create problems because they do not want to have such a competitor in Russia.”