The possible future presence of Western troops in Ukraine, mentioned yesterday in the international conference convened in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron - and subsequently rejected by Western countries, including Italy, "would not go beyond the threshold of belligerence".
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said this.
Asked about Macron's announcements last night and the reactions in France and Europe, Séjourné explained that "we need to think about new actions to support Ukraine", which "must respond to very specific needs".
In this regard, the Foreign Minister mentioned "demining", the "cyber" sector and "local production of weapons on Ukrainian territory".
"Some of these actions may require a presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of belligerence."
The French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, interviewed today by RTL radio, declared that nothing can be "ruled out in a war" taking place "in the heart of Europe", including the sending of ground troops. ''Two years ago'', Attal recalled, numerous countries ''ruled out sending weapons''
to the Ukrainians. ''Today we are sending long-range missiles to support Kiev in the face of this aggression''. "So - continued Attal in interview on the sidelines of the Paris Agricultural Show - what the president reminded us is that nothing should be ruled out in a war which, once again,
is taking place in the heart of Europe and at the gates of the European Union''.
On this point Macron was ''clear'', Attal continued, reiterating France's position according to which ''Russia cannot win this war'' and President Vladimir Putin cannot afford to ''take control of another free and democratic country
by force''.
Recalling that Sweden or Finland, historically neutral, have decided to join NATO because ''they feel this threat coming'', Attal finally expressed a hope for the future: ''I don't want my generation and subsequent generations grow up in a world of threats''.
In response to Macron's claims, a White House official told Reuters that the United States has no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine and that there are no plans to send NATO troops to fight in Ukraine either.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed this second point, underlining that "NATO allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. We have been doing this since 2014 and have intensified it after the large-scale invasion" but pointing out that "there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine."
European Union foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said at the Commission's daily press briefing that "we are aware of public statements by some Member States that sending ground troops to Ukraine could be considered." , specifying that "this has not been discussed at EU level".
The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said that at the Paris summit to close ranks on Ukraine, the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine did not gather enthusiasm.
"The most heated discussion - says Duda - took place around the question of sending soldiers to Ukraine. And here too there was absolutely no agreement".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, said that "no soldiers" will be sent to Ukraine by European or NATO countries.
In a press conference Scholz stated that "what was decided between us from the beginning continues to be valid for the future", i.e. that "there will be no troops on the ground, no soldiers sent by the European states or the of NATO on Ukrainian soil".
The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said that the possible sending of Western troops to Ukraine "is Macron's idea" but "when we talk about sending troops we must be very cautious because we must not make people think that we are at war with Russia. We are not at war with Russia, we defend "Ukraine" and in my personal opinion I am not in favor of sending Italian troops to fight in Ukraine".
Subsequently, Palazzo Chigi explained in a note that "the conference organized yesterday in Paris by President Macron constituted the opportunity to reaffirm, with the participation of Deputy Minister Cirielli, Italy's full commitment to supporting Ukraine in the fight to
defend of its sovereignty and territorial integrity", underlining that "since the Russian aggression two years ago there has been full cohesion of all the Allies in the support to be offered to Kiev" and "this support does not contemplate the presence on Ukrainian territory of troops of European states or NATO".
And Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has also ruled out sending troops to Ukraine for now, saying that it is not a relevant issue for NATO at the moment.
In an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Kristersson said: "We are currently busy sending advanced equipment to Ukraine in several ways," adding that there is "no demand" from the Ukrainian side for troops, so the " question is not current."
As for London, after Rishi Sunak's government declared last night that it has no intention of sending soldiers to Ukraine, at least not "on a large scale", today an executive spokesperson specified that "the United Kingdom has already instead a small number of personnel sent to the country to assist the Ukrainian armed forces, including military medical instructors."
At the same time, the British spokesman once again
underlined the importance of his country's indirect war aid to Kiev, among its NATO allies.
London - he recalled - "is training numerous Ukrainian soldiers here in the United Kingdom. And we obviously support the Ukrainian troops as well through supplies of military equipment" and ammunition.
Moscow, 'it would not be in the West's interest'
The idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine has been forcefully rejected - and with a certain amount of sarcasm - by Moscow.
Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov - questioned about Macron's statements - said that some Western leaders should "use their heads for more rational and safe thoughts for Europe".
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, however, said that "it seems that Macron's incontinence in speaking has become a persistent and painful problem."
On his Telegram channel, Medvedev added that the French president "does not take care of himself".
"Or - he concluded - it's time to change your diet: oysters and champagne are fine, but you're no longer a kid. Verbal enuresis at his age is dangerous."
And the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, explained that sending NATO troops to Ukraine "would not be in the interests" of the West", because if soldiers from Western countries were to be sent to Ukraine it would trigger a direct conflict with the Russia, "we must talk not about probability, but about inevitability, and this is how we evaluate it."
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