Poland's foreign minister says it should not exclude the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine

Lithuanian Army soldiers take part in a Lithuanian-Polish Brave Griffin... — Lithuanian Army soldiers take part in a Lithuanian-Polish Brave Griffin 24/II military exercise near the Suwalki Gap near the Polish border at the Dirmiskes village, in Lithuania on Friday, April 26, 2024. Poland’s foreign minister says that this NATO nation should not exclude the possibility of sending its troops to Ukraine and should keep Russian leader Vladimir Putin in suspence as to such a decision being ever made. Credit: AP/Mindaugas Kulbis

By The Associated PressUpdated May 28, 2024

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s foreign minister says the NATO nation should not exclude the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine and should keep Russian President Vladimir Putin in suspense over whether such a decision would ever be made.

Radek Sikorski made the comments in an interview published Tuesday in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

“We should not exclude any option. Let Putin be guessing as to what we will do,” Sikorski said when asked whether he would send Polish troops to Ukraine.

Sikorski said he has gone to Ukraine with his family in the past to deliver humanitarian aid.

But a spokesperson for Poland’s Defense Ministry, Janusz Sejmej, told Polish media on Tuesday he had “no knowledge of that” when asked about a report in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine suggesting Poland might send troops to Ukraine.

The idea of sending foreign soldiers to Ukraine, which is battling Russian military aggression, was floated earlier this year in France, but no country, including Poland, has publicly embraced it.

Poland supports neighboring Ukraine politically and by providing military equipment and humanitarian aid.