Ukraine speaker raises possibility of U.S. army reserves deployment

Andriy Parubiy, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, raised the possibility on television on June 19 of U.S. army reserve soldiers being stationed on Ukrainian territory. That would happen under a bilateral agreement that he advocated during his visit last week to Washington. Besides U.S. reserves, the agreement would involve conducting special operations, joint technology projects, securing lethal defensive weapons and accelerated NATO membership.

Zenon Zawada: A relatively young, impressionable politician, Parubiy seems to have returned from Washington overly infatuated. We are confident the U.S. will not engage in any expansion of its military presence on Ukrainian territory beyond the training camps that have been held in western Ukraine. Any expansion of the U.S. military presence beyond western Ukraine will be viewed as a military provocation by the Russian government, which is certain to respond.

Since his trip to Washington, Parubiy has spun numerous fantasies, another one being that Washington could grant Ukraine Javelin anti-tank missiles by the year end. We are equally confident no such thing will happen and will only provoke Russia towards expanding its military aggression.