Poland is the one violating the taboo. NATO soldiers are “already present” in Ukraine, the Foreign Minister admits Radoslaw Sikorski. And Moscow doesn't seem all that impressed. “We already knew it,” replies the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, speaking, however, not of troops deployed in combat but of instructors and various “specialists”. Meanwhile, Moscow remains cautious in its reactions to the Pope's appeal to Kiev to have “the courage of the white flag” and negotiate peace, after Ukraine rejected it with harsh words addressed to the pontiff. Francis' position it is “quite understandable”, commented the Kremlin, once again placing the blame for the failed negotiations on Ukraine. While on the international level, NATO, the USA and the EU join Poland and Estonia, which had already expressed their criticism of the Pope's words. “Surrender does not mean peace, we must continue to support Ukraine,” said the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg.
In Washington, however, a spokesperson for the National Security Council told ANSA that the president Joe Biden “he has great respect for Pope Francis and joins him in prayers for peace.” But “unfortunately – he added – we continue to see no sign that Moscow wants to put an end to this war and for this reason we are committed to supporting Kiev in its defense against Russian aggression”. Polish Minister Sikorski did not specify the countries of origin of the NATO soldiers already present in Ukraine, nor what their functions are. That is, whether they are troops deployed in battle or, as hypothesized by several experts, advisors and technicians who support the Ukrainians in the use of the sophisticated weapons supplied by the Alliance countries to Kiev. But the Russian spokeswoman seems to lean towards a hypothesis of this kind. «Behind everything – said Zakharova in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia – there are Washington and London, who among other things have recruited NATO and EU countries for a hybrid war against our country. And this war is conducted directly under the guidance of special forces instructors, experts and specialists from the respective military departments of NATO countries. It's impossible to hide it any longer.”
No troops in combat, therefore, according to Moscow. Which however denounces the presence in Ukraine of “mercenaries” from around fifty countries, including the United States and Great Britain. And the Kremlin speaks of “increasingly broad discussions” on the possible dispatch of NATO combat troops, once again stigmatizing the words of President Emmanuel Macron in this regard. “This is a very dangerous line and could have very undesirable consequences”, he said. warned the spokesman Peskov, underlining that Russia is “following the developments very closely”. Vladimir Putin's spokesperson then returned to the Pope's appeal for negotiations with possible mediation by Turkey, released by the Vatican the day after the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky he had met with the Turkish one Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. The Russian president, Peskov said, “has repeatedly spoken about our willingness and openness to resolve our problems through negotiations, and this is preferable.” However, he added, “unfortunately, both the Pope's statements and the repeated statements of other parties, including ours, have recently been met with an absolutely severe rejection by the Kiev regime.”
Peskov himself defined as “speculations” that do not deserve any comment, news released in recent days in the USA according to which Washington had information that in October 2022 Russia was ready to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. A scenario evoked in a book by White House correspondent David Sanger, of which the New York Times published an excerpt. He finally returned to talking about war Viktor Orban after the controversial meeting with Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend. The tycoon “will not give a cent” to Ukraine if he is re-elected president of the United States, the Hungarian prime minister assured, and for this reason “the war will end, because it is obvious that Kiev cannot stand on its own two feet”.