No more taboo? Sending Western troops on the ground to support Ukraine was “mentioned among the options” to help kyiv get out of the war that has pitted it against Russia for more than two years, Emmanuel Macron assured Monday evening. “Nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war, he added. The defeat of Russia is essential for security and stability in Europe,” he declared after an international conference in support of Ukraine bringing together 21 heads of state in Paris.
The option, which had never before been mentioned, divides the allies. And contrasts with the caution hitherto displayed by NATO member countries which seek to avoid any cobelligerence with Russia. At this stage, no country has clearly declared itself ready to send troops to Ukrainian soil. An Atlantic Alliance official declared that the organization has “no plans” to send soldiers, reports AFP. The French head of state himself did not wish to clarify France’s position, explaining that he assumed a “strategic ambiguity”. “I absolutely did not say that France was not in favor of it,” he added. I will not remove the ambiguity of this evening’s debates by giving names,” he added.
Some countries are showing more clarity. First and foremost the member states of the Visegrad group. This Tuesday morning, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that Prague was not considering sending troops to Ukraine. “No one has to worry about it,” he had already assured Monday evening. In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared “being ready to participate in any initiative that could end the war in Ukraine” while ruling out sending troops there. On the Hungarian side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs brushed aside the hypothesis raised by the guest at the Élysée. “Our position is rock solid: we are not willing to send weapons or troops to Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
The populist Slovak President Robert Fico, elected in 2023, estimated that such a sending of troops would lead to a “huge escalation”. And to describe the Paris conference as a “combat meeting”. In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson declared this morning on the public television channel SVT that sending troops to Ukraine “is not at all relevant at the moment”. “The French tradition [of military engagement] is not the Swedish tradition,” he added. Stockholm has actually not experienced war since a conflict against Norway in 1814.
At the end of the morning, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was just as clear: there will be no sending “soldiers” from Europe or NATO to Ukraine. The Minister of Defense, Oscar Pistorius, this Tuesday, mentioned “a proposal for reflection from President Macron that no one apparently followed” on Monday. Same position in London, where a spokesperson for the Prime Minister declared that the United Kingdom does not plan “any large-scale deployment”. In Spain, the government spokesperson clarified that Madrid “does not agree” with the idea of sending troops to Ukraine.
The United States, represented Monday evening, has not yet reacted officially. “Many people who say Never, never today were the same people who said “Never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles two years ago,” Emmanuel Macron said last night. Let us have the humility to note that we have often been six to twelve months late. That was the goal of tonight’s discussion: anything is possible if it helps achieve our goal.”
In Ukraine, this debate is warmly welcomed. “This shows absolute awareness of the risks posed to Europe by a militaristic and aggressive Russia,” a presidential adviser said on Tuesday. For its part, the Kremlin warns: sending troops to Ukraine would “not be in the interest” of the West.