(Reuters) – -Germany’s defence minister on Monday harshly dismissed as premature remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on plans to send European troops to Ukraine, saying she lacked the mandate to discuss the matter.
Von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday that Europe is drawing up “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the backing of U.S. capabilities.
“Those are things that you don’t discuss before you sit down at the negotiating table with many parties that have a say in the matter,” the minister, Boris Pistorius, told journalists during a visit to an ammunition factory in Cologne on Monday.
“I would know better than to comment or confirm such considerations in any way, apart from the fact that the European Union has no mandate or competency whatsoever when it comes to positioning troops,” he added.
Leyen told the FT on Sunday the deployment is set to include potentially tens of thousands of European-led troops, backed by assistance from the U.S., including command and control systems and intelligence and surveillance assets.
(Reporting by Markus WacketWriting by Ludwig Burger, Editing by William Maclean)
