France’s foreign minister on Tuesday sought to clarify remarks by President Emmanuel Macron that Paris could send troops to Ukraine for specific tasks but not to fight in a war.
Stephane Sejourne told lawmakers:
We must consider new actions to support Ukraine. These must respond to very specific needs, I am thinking in particular of mine clearance, cyberdefence, the production of weapons on site, on Ukrainian territory. Some of its actions could require a presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of fighting. Nothing should be ruled out. This was and still is the position today of the president of the Republic.
However, the AFP news agency quoted anonymous sources as saying that European allies had been studying Paris’s plan to send troops to Ukraine for several weeks.
A European military source told the publication that the European Union was discussing the proposal. He emphasised:
European allies have been studying the plan for several weeks and the US has supported the idea.
The White House also said on Tuesday that the United States would not send troops to Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out sending Western troops.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement:
President Biden has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine.
Biden believes the “path to victory” is for Congress to pass blocked military aid “so Ukrainian troops have the weapons and ammunition they need to defend themselves”, Watson added.
Macron on Monday did not rule out European nations sending troops to Ukraine, but cautioned that there was no consensus at this stage as allies agreed to try harder to get munitions to Kyiv faster.
According to French diplomats, Macron’s idea was to spark a debate on the issue, but there were no concrete plans in that direction. This prompted a series of responses from allies, who said they had no intention of sending troops to Ukraine.
