United to win: Estonia considers sending troops to assume rear functions of Ukrainian army

Madis Roll, the Estonian President's adviser on national security matters, said the Estonian government is considering sending troops to western Ukraine to take over the rear functions of Ukraine's armed forces.

Breaking Defense reports this.

The adviser said, "The government of Estonia is seriously discussing the possibility of sending troops to the west of Ukraine to take over indirect "rear" functions from the Ukrainian troops and free them for operations at the front."

According to him, the government is currently analyzing the potential move.

Although Estonia prefers any such move within the framework of a full-fledged NATO mission, he did not rule out the possibility of acting as part of a smaller coalition.

"Discussions are ongoing. We must consider all possibilities. NATO countries opposing such a move may change their minds over time," Roll said.

Roll's remarks follow a statement made by General Martin Herem, the head of the Estonian defense forces, to Breaking Defense last week. Herem shared that a few months ago, there were talks within the army about potentially deploying troops to western Ukraine to carry out tasks such as:

• health care,
• material and technical support,
• air defense of some cities in the west of Ukraine.

It should be noted that French President Emmanuel Macron does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks through the defenses and there is a request from Kyiv.

For reference:

Earlier, French leader Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of deploying troops into Ukraine's territory, which caused a debate among Ukraine's allies.

France later clarified that it was not planning to directly deploy troops to participate in hostilities. Several NATO countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Canada, are willing to consider this option.

However, several other NATO member countries, including the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, and others, have already stated that they are not planning to deploy their troops to Ukraine.

On May 2, Macron confirmed again that he does not rule out the introduction of French ground troops into Ukraine "if the Russians break through the front line."

It is worth adding that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielus Landsbergis, noted that Western countries can send their military instructors to Ukraine for training. This could be the first step in Macron's initiative.