EU member tells NATO not to cross 'red line' on Ukraine

According to RT on March 11, Slovakian Defense Minister Robert Kalinak criticized the idea of ​​sending NATO forces to Ukraine, calling it a “red line” that should not be crossed. He told Ta3 news agency a few days ago that politicians in the West are exploiting “war and suffering in Ukraine” for their own purposes.

The possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine was mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron in a statement to the media last week, when he said that NATO “cannot rule out” such an option.

Mr Macron's remarks sparked a wave of denials from senior officials from NATO member states, including Britain, the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden, who said they had no such plans.

Initially, only two Baltic states endorsed the idea. On March 8, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also supported Macron, saying that Russia’s military activity in Ukraine required “asymmetric escalation” from the West. Warsaw’s top diplomat also called a NATO presence in Ukraine “not unthinkable.”

On March 10, Mr. Kalinak warned that sending coalition troops to Ukraine would “significantly increase the risk of a global conflict.” The minister added that those who “seriously support Ukraine” should call on “healthy Ukrainians” to return home.

He also called for an end to hostilities between Kiev and Moscow and said there needed to be a non-violent way out. The minister said the world had seen the consequences of “fighting to the last Ukrainian”, stressing that “it is time to look for peaceful solutions”.

“Only through an immediate cessation of hostilities can we prevent further bloodshed and restore Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Mr. Kalinak said.

The head of the Slovak parliament, Peter Pellegrini, expressed a similar view during a visit to neighboring Hungary. “We must not give up on our efforts to end as soon as possible the daily killing of soldiers and civilians,” he told journalists after meeting his Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Kover. He also declared that Slovakia would not send any troops to Ukraine.

Calls for the warring parties to start peace talks have become more frequent recently. In late February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to host talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Last week, Pope Francis also called on Kiev to “have the courage” to enter into negotiations with Moscow to prevent further bloodshed. On March 10, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called on the West to “activate diplomatic channels” to resolve the conflict.

In early March, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto warned that Kiev would only weaken its negotiating position if it delayed talks with Moscow.

For its part, Russia has repeatedly stated that it is ready for negotiations as long as the situation on the ground is taken into account. Ukraine insists that any negotiations will only begin after Russian forces withdraw from all territories it claims as its own. Moscow has dismissed such demands as “absurd.”