NATO leaders shot down a suggestion by France’s president that Western troops could eventually fight alongside Ukrainian forces two years into Russia’s ongoing invasion, as the Kremlin warned of a wider conflict with the West.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s swiftly punctured trial balloon highlighted fears that Russian advances in Ukraine will embolden Moscow to threaten front-line eastern European states − all while billions of dollars in desperately needed U.S. aid to Kyiv remains stalled in the U.S. Congress.
“There’s no consensus today to send…troops on the ground,” French President Emanuel Macron told reporters from the Elysee presidential palace on Monday. “But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war.”
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Macron wouldn’t say which countries might be mulling boots on the Ukrainian ground, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity.”
‘No’ in several languages
Where the French president spoke of ambiguity, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg instead dished clarity, telling the Associated Press on Tuesday there are “no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”
Other leaders piled on. “There will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil who are sent there by European states or NATO states,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters Monday after a meeting of 20 leaders and diplomats hosted by Marcon.
French President Emmanuel Macron attends an agreement signing ceremony at the Elysee Palace, in Paris on February 27, 2024. Macron and the Emir of Qatar take stock of current efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, as well as ways of speeding up the implementation of a Palestinian state in order to bring a lasting end to the conflict.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland said Tuesday that his country’s troops would not fight in Ukraine, and Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala said his country “certainly doesn’t want to send its soldiers.”
While making clear that President Joe Biden has ruled out any U.S. forces fighting in Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was less equivocal about European armies. “It’s a sovereign decision that every NATO ally would have to make for themselves,” he said Tuesday. “There’ll be no US troops on the ground in a combat role there.”
And the Kremlin seized on Macron’s comments to warn of the first-ever combat between Russian and NATO troops. “In this case, we need to talk not about probability, but about the inevitability” of direct fighting between Moscow’s forces and those of the Western military alliance, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
US support: From ‘as long as it takes’ to ‘as long as we can’
After nine months of stalemate, Russian forces recently took control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, and Moscow continues to hold nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory. Meanwhile, a $60 billion U.S. aid package is stalled by congressional Republicans as polls show GOP voters are souring on support and former President Donald Trump pushes the party away from Ukraine.
President Joe Biden had promised at the 2023 State of the Union address to support Ukraine “as long as it takes.” By December, Biden was reduced to telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Washington would keep up military aid for “as long as we can.”
At the same time, the European Union and individual member states are scrambling to shore up Kyiv as American resolve weakens. Earlier this month, European leaders pledged $54 billion in economic aid, for a total of $150 billion since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
The U.S., for its part, has sent $74.3 billion in military, financial, and humanitarian aid, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
TOPSHOT – Local residents walk past the railway station destroyed by a Russian missile attack in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, on February 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
More: Mitch McConnell says Donald Trump made Ukraine aid package ‘doubly challenging’ as he fights for deal
Some countries are ‘ready’ to send troops, Slovakian leader says
In remarks on Monday, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, said he had heard that some countries were considering bilateral deals to send troops to Ukraine.
“There are countries that are ready to send their own soldiers to Ukraine, there are countries that say never – Slovakia is among them – and there are countries that say that this proposal should be considered,” Fico said.
While many Western leaders were aghast at the French president’s suggestion, it received a warm welcome in Kyiv.
“Macron is now demonstrating a deep understanding of the risks posed to Europe by the war in Ukraine,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told the AFP news service on Tuesday. “The French president’s statement clearly takes the discussion to another level,” he added.
“This is a good sign,” Podolyak said.
More: Sweden clears last hurdle to join NATO: Five graphics and maps
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal, USA TODAY; Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NATO troops in Ukraine? French proposal brings a warning from Russia
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