No country in the coalition helping Kyiv resist Russian aggression yesterday joined the attitude of French President Emmanuel Macron, who surprised allies on Monday by saying that sending Western ground troops to Ukraine The contradictory message being sent to Putin betrays a worrying lack of coherence at a critical moment in the war, with Russian forces on the offensive.
At the end of a meeting in the Élysée aimed at strengthening support for Ukraine in terms of ammunition and long-range weapons, in which leaders of more than twenty countries participated, Macron explained that “ there is no consensus today to send ground troops, in an official, assumed and consequential way”, although it is an option that is already being discussed. “We will do everything necessary so that Russia cannot win this war,” he added.
Macron was answered more or less resoundingly from almost all the capitals and from NATO headquarters. The harshest contradiction came from a very close ally, Germany, with whom France has maintained significant differences since the invasion. Chancellor Olaf Scholz was definitive stating that “no soldiers will be sent” by the European partners. “This cannot be an option and it will not be”, said the Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, in his support. The Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy, Robert Habeck, even allowed himself to be ironic about France and criticize its double language. “I like that France is thinking of helping Ukraine more strongly, but if I can make a suggestion, that it should send more weapons,” said Habeck.
From London, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, indicated that the United Kingdom does not plan to send large-scale troops, although he admitted that the British already have a small contingent of personnel in Ukraine “to help the Ukrainian armed forces, especially in the field of medical training”.
“NATO and its allies are providing unprecedented military support to Ukraine – commented Atlantic Alliance sources from Brussels. We have done this since 2014 and stepped it up after the full-scale invasion of Russia. But there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”
The spokeswoman for the Spanish Government, Pilar Alegría, was added to the list of opponents to the intervention. “We do not agree and we must also concentrate on the urgent, which is to speed up the delivery of material”, he said.
Even among countries closer to Russia and sensitive to the war, there was no complicity with Macron. “There is no intention to send our troops to Ukraine and we have a common position on this point”, declared the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, during a press conference with his Czech counterpart, Petr Fiala. The Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, whose country will soon join NATO, recalled that there has been no request for troops from Kyiv. Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte denied the issue had been discussed at the Elysee meeting.
Not only do Hungary and Slovakia not want to send troops there, they are proposing to negotiate with Russia to end the war, even though they recognize that Moscow violated international law. This was said by Prime Ministers Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico at a meeting in Prague.
From Washington, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, explained that the position remains unchanged. “President Biden has been clear about the fact that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” Watson said. Hours earlier, the White House denied plans in this regard, neither did NATO.
France has been surprised by Macron’s statement, especially because at the beginning of the conflict he adopted a softer attitude and went as far as to say, to the indignation of the Ukrainians and some allies, that he should not be “humiliated” Russia The French president is always ready for international prominence, more grateful than struggling with internal management problems. Paris is widely assumed to be a global power, because it has its own nuclear arsenal and a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
