Czech President: Presence of foreign troops in Ukraine will not breach international norms

The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, is convinced that if NATO forces provide support directly on the territory of Ukraine, it will not violate any international norms. Source: Euractiv, citing Pavel in an interview with Czech television, as reported by European Pravda Pavel said that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between the deployment of combat troops and the potential involvement of troops in certain "support" activities, in which NATO already has experience.

"It should be remembered that after the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of part of Donbas, which was essentially an [act of] aggression, albeit on a much smaller scale than today, a NATO training mission was operating on Ukrainian territory, which at one time included more than 15 countries and numbered around 1,000 people," Pavel reminded.

He emphasised that from the perspective of international law and the UN Charter, "there would be nothing to prevent NATO member states' troops" from assisting in operations in Ukraine. Asked whether he would support the deployment of NATO troops for direct support on Ukrainian territory, Pavel said that he wouldn't rule out discussing the matter further. "I would certainly not reject a debate on this issue.

If we could agree with the allies that, for example, instead of training Ukrainian soldiers on the territory of NATO member states and transporting thousands of troops to, say, Poland or the Czech Republic, it would make much more sense to transport a few dozen instructors to Ukrainian territory and train Ukrainian soldiers there," he said.

Background:

• Last week, at the press conference with Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Petr Pavel said there should be no limits imposed upon efforts to provide support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
• Earlier, Macron stated that putting western boots on the ground in Ukraine "should not be ruled out".

  Later he added that his remarks, which have caused a stir, were carefully thought through.

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