Estonia considers deploying troops in non‑combat roles to Ukraine

The Estonian government is in serious talks about the possibility of deploying its soldiers to western Ukraine to assume non-combat roles, thus freeing Ukrainian soldiers to join the front lines - announced by the Estonian President's security adviser, Madis Roll, during an interview with Breaking Defence.

Roll highlighted that the government is currently evaluating this option. It prefers to participate in a NATO mission to demonstrate a united and determined stance. However, he noted that participating in a smaller coalition hasn't been ruled out.

"Discussions are ongoing," stated Roll. - We should be looking at all the possibilities. We shouldn't have our minds restricted as to what we can do," he continued.

He emphasized that the opposition from some NATO countries to such a proposal might shift "over time."

General Martin Herem, the chief commander of the Estonian armed forces, shared with Breaking Defence last week that there had been talks a few months ago about sending soldiers to western Ukraine for medical, logistics, or city air defence tasks. However, these discussions subsided amid public critique and controversy sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks on not dismissing the idea of deploying troops to Ukraine, which has been countering a Russian invasion for over two years.

As recalled by Breaking Defence, Lithuania's Prime Minister, Ingrida Szimonyte, told the "Financial Times" about her country's willingness to send soldiers to Ukraine for a training mission. The Lithuanian parliament has approved the government's proposal, though Kyiv has yet to request such assistance.

Szimonyte acknowledged that Russia might view this action as provocative. Yet, she remarked, "If we just thought about the Russian response, then we could not send anything. Every second week you hear that somebody will be nuked."