No plans to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine, says Stoltenberg

NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday (January 30).

Asked on BBC Television whether he would rule out putting NATO troops in Ukraine if Russia does invade, Stoltenberg said: "We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine."

"NATO allies have trainers there, we help them from NATO with building capacity, modernizing their defenses including their cyber defenses, NATO allies also provide equipment, defensive weapons, like the UK has now provided, for instance, anti-tank weapons," he said.

Stoltenberg also emphasized the limits of NATO's partnership with Ukraine, stating that the security guarantees that an attack on one ally will trigger a response from the whole alliance does not apply to Ukraine, since it is not a NATO ally.

Britain's foreign secretary, Liz Truss, also told the BBC's Sunday Morning Show that it is very unlikely British soldiers would be sent to fight alongside Ukrainian troops in the event of a Russian invasion.

Truss said it was "highly likely" Russia was looking to invade Ukraine.

"That is why we're doing all we can through deterrence and diplomacy to urge him to desist," she said.