The Netherlands Chief of Defence believes that there is no point in discussing sending Western troops to Ukraine now, but the allies should be open to all possible options.

This statement by General Onno Eichelsheim was quoted by the ANP agency during his visit to the Czech Republic.

According to Eichelsheim, it is “not the right time” for the Netherlands to talk about sending soldiers to Ukraine.

“I think you should not write off any option to see how best to support Ukraine,” he added.

Onno Eichelsheim emphasized that sending troops to Ukraine is a “last option” and has not been publicly considered so far.

He admitted that the theoretical scenario of military deployment should take place within a coalition, for example, through NATO or a group of 10-15 countries.

“It would be very strange if one or two countries were going to do this,” the general added.

Eichelsheim also emphasized that there are other ways to help Kyiv, such as sending more weapons.

“There are other options than already thinking about soldiers in NATO uniforms walking around there,” Eichelsheim said.

After a meeting in Paris on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he does not rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine in the future, although he stressed that there is currently no consensus among the allies on this issue.

“At the moment, there is no agreement on an official, authorized deployment of ground troops. But in the future, nothing should be ruled out. We will do everything we can to ensure that Russia does not win this war,” said Emmanuel Macron.

A number of European countries and NATO have since stated that they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine.