Bloomberg reports .
Silina stated in an interview that she would like NATO to “do some training there,” although she emphasized that the presence of NATO forces within the country would require consensus among Alliance partners.
“If this proposal will be elaborated and expanded, maybe we will decide to do some training inside,” Silina said. “We have to analyze how the situation looks from the perspective of NATO, not just from Latvia,” she noted.
Silina said a failure to support Ukraine and a Russian victory in the conflict would have a global impact, including on the US. “If Russia wins, those consequences will affect all the world, also Washington – also the United States – not just Europe,” Silina said.
According to her, she leaves the US with greater optimism regarding the prospects of further financing for Ukraine from Washington after members of Congress from both parties informed her that proposals to support Kyiv are likely to be voted on in the House of Representatives.
“I’m more optimistic because I spoke to some congresspeople who says I have found some procedural way, how they can get to the result, and to find some compromise,” she said.
Silina added that she supports the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, as well as the use of eurobonds to supply more weaponry to Ukraine.
On February 26, around 20 European leaders gathered in Paris to discuss the threats posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following the conclusion of the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that in the future, the deployment of Western ground forces should not be ruled out to counter Russian aggression.
Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico confirmed that some NATO and EU member countries are allegedly discussing the possibility of sending their troops to the territory of Ukraine after signing bilateral agreements with Kyiv.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and leaders of Alliance countries have stated that a collective decision regarding the deployment of troops to Ukraine has not been made, while in Russia, such a step has been labeled as a declaration of war.
On February 29, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that Western leaders should not rule out the possibility of deploying ground troops to Ukraine.
On March 4, Macron stated that he would not be sending French troops to Ukraine in the near future, but he is opening debates on the matter. On March 5, Macron urged allies to "not be cowards" regarding Ukraine and to step up their efforts. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius responded to his call.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that the discussion sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks about the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine will save Europe a lot of time in realizing that more needs to be done.
Macron, commenting on his proposed idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine, emphasized that France is resolute and ready to invest resources to achieve victory over Russia.
The left and right-wing French parties criticized President Emmanuel Macron's position regarding support for Ukraine, which he expressed in an interview on March 14th.