“It’s too early to contemplate such a development,” Selim Yenel, a former Turkish ambassador to the EU, told POLITICO. And Ankara, he warned, would demand something in return. “As for the quid pro quo, it would still be difficult to overcome the EU’s obstacles on the funds for defense. I’m sure the EU will find a way to prevent Turkey from having any access.”
Poland, now with the EU’s largest military, is ruling out sending troops to Ukraine, while saying it would help with the logistics of any mission to the east.
“Poland has its own strategic dilemma because it has borders with Russia and Belarus so it cannot weaken the forces needed to prevent an attack,” said a senior Polish official, speaking on condition of being granted anonymity.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni is also wary of sending soldiers to Ukraine and has argued with Macron, stressing it’s wiser to offer Ukraine a defense pact rather than troops, who could risk getting embroiled in a war with Russia.
“If one of our soldiers were to die, would we pretend nothing happened or should we react? Because if we react, it’s obvious that NATO will have to do it. And then we might as well activate the [Article 5] clause immediately,” Meloni was reported as saying.
Moscow says no
There is reason for caution. Despite the warm glow following Vladimir Putin’s chummy Alaska summit with Trump, Moscow is adamantly against any NATO troops being deployed to Ukraine.