BERLIN/MOSCOW: Germany, Britain and other European countries said on Tuesday they had no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine after France hinted at the possibility and the Kremlin warned that any such move would inevitably lead to conflict between Russia and NATO.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Western allies should not rule out any options in trying to avert a Russian victory in Ukraine, although he stressed that there was no consensus at this stage.
His comments, made at a hastily convened meeting of European leaders in Paris on ways to boost support for Kiev, come amid combat gains by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces in eastern Ukraine and growing shortages of ammunition and manpower on the Ukrainian side.
But Germany, Britain, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic have distanced themselves from any suggestion they could send ground troops to the war in Ukraine, now in its third year.
“…There will be no ground troops, no troops on Ukrainian soil sent by European countries or NATO states,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was equally adamant.
“Boots on the ground is not an option for…Germany,” Pistorius told reporters during a visit to Vienna.
Seeking to clarify Macron’s remarks on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the president was referring to sending troops for specific tasks such as helping to clear mines, producing weapons on site and cyber defense.
“(It) could require a (military) presence on Ukrainian territory without crossing the threshold of fighting,” Sejourne told French lawmakers.
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Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis welcomed Macron’s push for allies to focus more on how to help Kiev. “A time like this requires political leadership, ambition and the courage to think outside the box,” he said in a post on X.
Scholz said European leaders now appeared willing to acquire weapons from outside Europe as a way to speed up military aid to Ukraine after Monday’s talks.
Germany has become Kiev’s second-largest supplier of military aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, but is extremely wary of moves that would draw the NATO alliance into direct conflict with Russia.
THE RUSSIAN REBOVEMENT
The Kremlin issued a quick warning about what was at stake.
“The very fact that the possibility of sending certain contingents from NATO countries to Ukraine is being discussed is a very important new element,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Macron’s remarks.
Asked about the risks if NATO member states were to send their troops to fight in Ukraine, Peskov replied: “In that case, we would have to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability (of direct conflict).
Russia and the United States – the superpower behind NATO – have the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. President Joe Biden has warned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could spark World War III.
In particular, the possibility of deploying German troops in the territory of the former Soviet Union is very sensitive for Russia, whose fierce opposition to Hitler’s invasion during World War II is an integral part of its national identity. Putin has even called Russia’s actions in Ukraine a fight against “Nazis,” a position dismissed as cynical and absurd by Kiev and the West.
A White House official told Reuters on Monday that the United States has no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine and has no plans to send NATO troops to fight there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has stepped up lobbying European governments for more artillery shells and longer-range weapons. But political bickering in Washington has blocked much-needed $61 billion in US aid.
The Czech Republic announced plans this month, backed by Canada, Denmark and others, to finance the rapid purchase of hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition from third countries for shipment to Ukraine.
