NATO not doing enough, Russia must face more strategic difficulties – Swedish Foreign Minister
The West must create more “strategic difficulties” to reign in Russia’s behavior, with "stopping its aggression against Ukraine" being its top-priority task, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said in an interview with Euractiv.
In these regards, NATO is "not doing enough," she said.
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“In order to [stop Russia], we first of all have to stop the aggression against Ukraine. Not all countries understand the sense of urgency to act that there is.”
“Those countries need to understand that the conflict is here and that we need to deal with it.”
He also called Russia "a neighbor that is behaving irresponsibly, " who is threatening the world with “irresponsible nuclear threats and the idea of recreating its former empire at the expense of independent sovereign states."
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He called on the West to "put an end to this."
“Regarding the French proposal to train Ukrainian personnel on Ukrainian soil, it’s not on the table for Sweden,” Billström said, commenting on the proposal from France.
He hinted that Stockholm finds the debate about Macron’s comments untimely and distracting.
Kyiv’s Armed Forces need “more of almost everything,” Billström noted.
“Providing more military equipment for Ukraine ‘is not a question of industrial capacity,’ but comes down to political leadership and political will,” he added, pointing out that the United States and Europe have far more joint production capacity than Russia.
Western troops in Ukraine – What is Known?
Read also: NATO troop deployment in Ukraine could ‘potentially escalate to World War III,’ says Hungarian FM
Ukraine's Western allies could create a coalition to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with long-range weapons, and future Western troop deployment to Ukraine should not be ruled out, Macron said after a conference in support of Ukraine held in Paris on Feb. 26.
Several NATO countries publicly rejected the idea of sending troops to Ukraine in response to Macron's statements, including Poland, the United States, Germany, Czechia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Read also: Macron weighs five scenarios for NATO troop deployment in Ukraine
"All options should be kept open," Dutch Army Defense Chief, General Onno Eichelsheim, said. Ukraine did not ask the Netherlands to send troops, and there is no point in discussing it now, he added.
European NATO member states have been studying the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine for weeks, the AFP news agency reported, citing a source.
French troops could help Ukraine protect certain borders, and take part in exercises or ground air defense, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Feb. 29. He ruled out the participation of French soldiers in battles "directly on the front line."
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas did not reject the possibility of sending NATO troops, adding that their troops would only be used on a training mission.
Read also: Italy’s Meloni opposes Western troop deployment to Ukraine
Ukraine does not need Western troops on its territory, but is ready to accept "instructors" and "technical personnel" from NATO allied countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 11.
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