The presence of Western troops in Ukraine would not cross “the threshold of belligerence”, assured Tuesday the head of French diplomacy, thus clarifying the polemical remarks of President Emmanuel Macron on the possibility of sending troops to the country at war .
Faced with Russia’s aggressiveness, Westerners had to “consider new actions to support Ukraine”, repeated Stéphane Séjourné, referring to operations such as mine clearance, cyber or “weapons production (.. .) on the territory of Ukraine”. “Some of these actions could require a presence on Ukrainian territory without crossing the belligerent threshold,” he said. So no troops intended to fight directly against the Russians.
“A small number” of people already sent there by London
The United Kingdom has also recognized that “a small number” of people sent by London were already on site “to support the Ukrainian armed forces, particularly in terms of medical training”, according to a spokesperson for the Prime Minister British Rishi Sunak, specifying however: “We do not plan a large-scale deployment”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that “no soldier” would be sent to Ukraine by European or NATO countries: “What was decided between us from the beginning continues to be valid for the future “, namely that “there will be no troops on the ground, no soldiers sent either by European states or by NATO states on Ukrainian soil.”
Support for kyiv “does not foresee the presence on Ukrainian territory of troops from European states or NATO”, underlined the Italian government, whose Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, called for “to be very careful ” on this subject, because “we must not appear to be at war with Russia”. Spain “does not agree” with the idea launched by Mr Macron, and the duo formed by Poland and the Czech Republic “does not consider sending” troops to Ukraine”, according to their leaders.