French president Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine is not “ruled out” in the future, after the issue was debated at a gathering of European leaders, as Russia’s full-scale invasion grinds into a third year.
The French leader said at the meeting of 20 European heads of state and other western officials in Paris that “we will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war”.
“There’s no consensus today to send, in an official, endorsed manner, troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out,” Mr Macron said in a news conference.
The meeting included German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish president Andrzej Duda, as well as leaders from the Baltic nations.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also in Paris for the meeting.
We are talking about our support for Ukraine and our collective security.
A collective leap is necessary from all of us. pic.twitter.com/NViI9ntaVY— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 26, 2024
Mr Macron declined to provide details about which nations were considering sending troops, saying he prefers to maintain some “strategic ambiguity”.
He earlier called on European leaders to ensure the continent’s “collective security” by providing unwavering support to Ukraine in the face of tougher Russian offensives on the battlefield in recent months.
“In recent months particularly, we have seen Russia getting tougher,” Mr Macron said. “We also know that Russia is preparing new attacks, in particular to shock Ukrainian public opinion.”
He cited the need to to solidify security to head off any Russian attacks on additional countries in the future.
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia as well as much larger Poland have been considered among possible targets of future Russian expansionism. All four countries are staunch supporters of Ukraine.
Estonia’s foreign minister said earlier this month that Nato has about three or four years to strengthen its defences.
In a video speech, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the leaders in Paris to “ensure that Putin cannot destroy our achievements and cannot expand his aggression to other nations”.
The Paris conference comes after France, Germany and the UK recently signed 10-year bilateral agreements with Ukraine to send a strong signal of long-term backing as Kyiv works to shore up western support.
