Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, the open discussion of sending troops to Ukraine by the European nations was welcomed by several Ukrainian officials. However, after French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks, Kremlin said that the US-led NATO military alliance would become inevitable if European members of NATO sent troops to fight in Ukraine.
Though many NATO members including Poland and Czech Republic said they were not considering sending troops, Macron not ruling out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine may have irked Russia. Sweden, which is set to join NATO, also said "no consensus" on sending troops.
Macron on Monday said he refused to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine, but no consensus existed on the step. "There is no consensus to officially back any ground troops. That said, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we can to make sure that Russsia does not prevail," said Macron.
France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also said “we will do whatever it takes" to help Ukraine win war.”
"You can't rule anything out in a war...But no dynamic can be ruled out. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war," he added.
France and other allies of Ukraine will “create a coalition for deep strikes and therefore medium- and long-range missiles and bombs,” Macron was quoted as saying at a press conference.
However, Sweden's PM, Ulf Kristersson, said it is not a relevant question for NATO at the moment.
“Right now we are fully occupied with sending advanced materials to from Sweden to Ukraine in many different ways, like many other countries are. So that is a whole other thing," Kristersson told Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Poland and Czech Republic also said there was "no consensus" on sending western troops to Ukraine.
On Monday, Macron also announced the work to supply Ukraine with "medium-and long-range missiles and bombs."
Macron said that Russia cannot win this war and that Europe's own security was at stake.
Meanwhile, while speaking to the reporters Russia’s Dmitry Peskov said the fact of discussions of sending troops from NATO countries is a “very important element”.
The Russia-NATO conflict is likely to widen if the countries agree on sending troops to Ukraine.
In the ongoing war, Russia had made advances near Kreminna, Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Russia has claimed to have captured the Ukrainian village of Lastochkyne, about five kilometres north-west of Avdiivka as well.
Ukraine has received less than a third of the one million artillery shells the European Union promised to deliver by now, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said. More aid is expected to arrive from US next week, said Ukraine’s PM.
