Estonia weighs military support in Ukraine to bolster frontline efforts
The Estonian government is seriously discussing the possibility of sending its soldiers to western Ukraine to take over "rear" tasks, not directly related to combat, from Ukrainian soldiers to enable them to move to the front line, announced Estonian President's security adviser Madis Roll in an interview with Breaking Defence.
Roll emphasized that the government is considering this a potential move, but the country would prefer to do it as part of a NATO mission to show broad-spectrum, joint strength and determination. This does not exclude a smaller coalition.
- Discussions are ongoing, said Roll. - We should be looking at all the possibilities. We shouldn't have our minds restricted as to what we can do, he added.
He stressed that "it is not unimaginable" that NATO countries currently opposed such a solution and may change their stance over time.
The chief commander of Estonian armed forces, General Martin Herem, told Breaking Defence last week that a few months ago, the army discussed sending soldiers to western Ukraine to take over tasks in medical services, logistics, or air defence of some cities, but the debate quieted down because the idea started to be publicly criticized.
Herem probably meant the controversy caused by French President Emmanuel Macron's words that the sending of troops to Ukraine, which has been repelling Russia's invasion for over two years, should not be ruled out.
Prime minister of Lithuania on sending troops to Ukraine
Breaking Defence recalls that the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Szimonyte, recently expressed her country's openness to sending soldiers to Ukraine as part of a training mission in an interview with the Financial Times. The Lithuanian parliament agreed to the government's request on this matter, but the authorities in Kyiv have not yet made such a demand.
Szimonyte admitted that Russia would consider such a move a provocation. However, she added that "If we just thought about the Russian response, then we could not send anything. Every second week you hear that somebody will be nuked".
