NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a news conference in Finland that the alliance has no plans to send military personnel to Ukraine, but its members can assist Ukraine in “different ways.”
The NATO chief said during a press conference:
Ukraine under international law has the right to self-defence. We have the right to provide support to Ukraine. Allies are assisting Ukraine in different ways. NATO has no plans to deploy forces in Ukraine.
At the same time, he stressed that NATO was working to ensure stable, long-term support for Ukraine and the necessary long-term funding.
Stoltenberg also said that there is no immediate military threat to the alliance members from Russia now. He said this after a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. For his part, the Finnish president said that NATO “does not see a military threat from Russia” against the Baltic and North European countries.
In addition, Stubb added that Helsinki also has no plans to send Finnish military personnel to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, France has no plans to send its military to Ukraine, the country’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Thursday in an interview with France 2 television channel.
Attal said:
There are no plans of this kind. You know, we have discussed this issue a lot.
Earlier, French leader Emmanuel Macron said he admits the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks through the front lines or if there is such a request from the Ukrainian authorities.
The statement by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal reflects the general position of Western countries on direct military intervention in the conflict in Ukraine. France, like other NATO countries, has been actively supporting Ukraine through arms supplies, financial aid and diplomatic support, but has avoided direct involvement of its military forces.