Several EU and NATO members are considering military deployments to Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed on Monday.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU and NATO national leaders in Paris on Monday to debate collective Western strategy on Ukraine, Fico cited a "restricted document" listing topics to be discussed in Paris that "sends shivers down your spine."
"These topics," he said, "imply that a number of NATO and EU member states are considering sending troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis."
"I can't say for what purpose or what they would do there."
According to Fico, the war in Ukraine is not going as expected: “This [Paris] meeting is confirmation that the Ukraine strategy of the West has completely failed,” he said, without providing details.
Speaking following a meeting of Slovakia's security council and cabinet on Monday morning, Fico said such plans risked escalating the Ukraine war, and stressed that Slovakia would not participate.
The Russia-friendly Slovak leader has previously come under fire for his pro-Moscow stances, saying in January for example that the only way to stop the war in Ukraine was for Kyiv to give up some of its territory.
Czech PM Petr Fiala, who is also due to attend the Paris meeting, disavowed Fico’s statement: “The Czech Republic certainly is not preparing to send any soldiers to Ukraine, nobody has to worry about that."
POLITICO contacted the NATO and EU press offices for comment, but received no response.