Lithuanian PM outlines conditions under which foreign troops can be deployed to Ukraine

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė strongly believes that Western military instructors can be deployed to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers, provided that proper air defence is in place.

As reported by the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, Šimonytė noted that Lithuanian military instructors are currently training Ukrainian soldiers in Lithuania and other countries.

"Could they [Ukrainian soldiers] be trained in Ukraine? With proper air defence, it is certainly possible to manage these risks," she said.

Šimonytė noted that some people have interpreted French President Emmanuel Macron's statement about the possible deployment of troops to Ukraine as a proposal that they should join the fighting.

"There are different forms of assistance or ways of getting involved. I think what President Macron said, and what is key, is that we should not draw red lines for ourselves when on the other side we have a person who has no red lines and who has a nuclear threat and waves it every other day," the Lithuanian prime minister said.

In March, Macron stated that a possible deployment of Western troops to Ukraine "cannot be ruled out". He later added that his controversial words had been carefully thought through.

Later, commenting on the idea he raised, Macron stressed that if such a scenario were to be implemented, French forces would not go on the offensive against Russia.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has indicated that he would not rule out sending troops to Ukraine in the long term.