Poland Denies US Special Envoy Claim of Polish Troop Deployment to Ukraine
Poland’s defense minister has contradicted statements by the White House’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, that Polish troops would be involved in implementing a peace deal in Ukraine.
Kellogg told Fox Business on Tuesday that Polish troops would be among European contingents making up a ‘resiliency force’ west of the Dnipro River.
Describing the proposed force to be deployed following a peace agreement, Kellogg said:
“This is a force of what they call the E3, but it’s actually now E4 when you’re talking about the Brits, the French as well as the Germans, and now actually the Poles, having a force west of the Dnipro River…”
He said such a resilience force would monitor any ceasefire.
Poland’s defense minister rebutted Kellogg’s assertion later Tuesday, telling the Polish state-owned press agency PAP that Warsaw has no intention of deploying forces to its neighbor.
“The position is unambiguous,” Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told PAP. “Poland does not plan to send soldiers to Ukraine.”
Logistical center
Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is also a deputy prime minister, said Poland’s allies understood fully that the country’s function in supporting Ukraine is logistical.
“From the outset, we have indicated our role as a center for logistics and infrastructure support for such a mission,” he said. “Without us, there is no way to carry it out.
”The minister denied that Kellogg’s comments could be a form of pressure on Warsaw, adding that the deployment of Polish troops to Ukraine had not been raised.
“Neither I nor Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski or others have received any suggestions in this matter,” he said.
Sikorski later confirmed the defense minister’s statement on the X platform.
Source: Tvp World