The suggestion came from Macron
Scholz: NATO and EU are not sending soldiers to Ukraine
February 27, 2024, 1:44 p.m
After his categorical rejection of a Taurus delivery to Kiev yesterday, Chancellor Scholz said no today: Neither EU nor NATO states would send their own soldiers to the conflict. In doing so, he counters statements made by French President Macron.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has clearly rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to send Western troops to Ukraine. It will also apply to the future that “there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil that will be sent there by European states or NATO states,” said Scholz during a visit to Freiburg. The evening before, at the end of a Ukraine conference in Paris, Macron said that sending Western troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out.
Scholz also emphasized that Western soldiers “are not allowed to take an active part in war activities” even from their home countries. The opposition to sending Western troops to Ukraine is shared by the allies, Scholz said. He referred to the deliberations at the international Ukraine conference the evening before in Paris: the opinion there was “very unanimous” “as far as this issue is concerned.”
Scholz received support from his party. Party leader Lars Klingbeil and parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich categorically ruled out sending German ground troops to Ukraine. “We take responsibility for ensuring that the war does not expand,” Klingbeil told the German Press Agency. “One thing is clear: Germany will not send any soldiers directly or indirectly to the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine in violation of international law.”
“We should stick to the consensus in the European Union and NATO to do everything we can to strongly support Ukraine, but at the same time exclude any risk of becoming a party to the war ourselves,” emphasized Klingbeil. “Germany has been pursuing exactly this path prudently and consistently for two years. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has our full backing.”
Mützenich: “Consider escalation risks”
Mützenich expressed himself similarly: “We will certainly not send any German soldiers to the war against Russia,” he said. “Statecraft does not consist in pithy words, but is shown in concrete support and at the same time in the ability to consider the risks of escalation that are inherent in every war.”
The alliance itself also makes it clear that it has “no plans to send NATO combat troops” to Ukraine. An Allianz employee said this when asked in Brussels.
Macron caused a stir with his statements at the end of the Ukraine conference. There is currently no consensus on sending troops to Ukraine, he said. “But nothing must be excluded in order to achieve the goal.” The goal is that Russia is not allowed to win.