When the President of France Emmanuel Macron sent NATO troops to Ukraine, he meant training.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba told about this in an interview with La Stampa.
"When Macron talked about sending troops to Ukraine, European leaders panicked. Macron only wanted to say that there is an opportunity to train the Ukrainian military directly in Ukraine, and not outside of Ukraine, as is happening now," Kuleba said.
He noted that Ukraine has never asked allies to send troops.
- On February 26, 2024, about 20 European leaders met in Paris to discuss threats from Russia. After the end of the conference, the President of France Emmanuel Macron said that in the future, sending troops of NATO countries to Ukraine should not be ruled out.
- This statement caused lively discussions. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the leaders of the Alliance countries said that such a decision had not been taken, and Russia said that such a step would be a declaration of war. Some NATO members came out in support of Macron. Finland and the Baltic countries urged the West not to reject the idea of deploying troops in Ukraine in case of a critical situation.
- After that, Macronʼs rhetoric about Ukraine began to intensify. He called on Europe to prepare for various scenarios and stated that there are no limits in helping Ukraine from Paris.
- Macronʼs statements come against the background of the delay in military aid to Kyiv from the United States and the inability of other allies to quickly resolve the issue of ammunition for the Armed Forces. Macron is also taking advantage of the indecision of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in particular his refusal to transfer long-range Taurus air-to-air missiles to Ukraine.