Various NATO allies have dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s belief that they should not rule out the possibility of sending troops to fight in Ukraine against Russian forces.
Following a meeting of 25 European leaders in Paris on Monday, Macron said, “We will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war,” though he acknowledged there is not unanimous support for sending Western troops to Ukraine to fight.
“There’s no consensus today to send in an official manner troops on the ground. But in terms of options, nothing can be ruled out,” the French president said.
Other European leaders quickly dismissed the suggestion.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in part, “there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states,” while leaders from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain all said in various ways there was no serious consideration of sending their own or NATO forces into Ukraine.
A NATO official also told CNN, “There are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that should Western troops enter the war, “We need to talk not about the likelihood, but about the inevitability of a conflict,” according to Russian state media TASS.
Russia achieved its biggest battlefield victory in months when it forced Ukrainian troops to withdraw from the city of Avdiivka, once a Ukrainian stronghold. Toward the end of the fighting for the city, Ukrainians ran short on ammunition and weapons, which officials have said was largely a result of slowed military aid from Ukrainian allies, primarily the United States.
President Joe Biden is set to meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday to discuss the stalled supplemental funding package that includes aid to Ukraine, among other allies. The Department of Defense has been unable to provide Ukraine with military equipment since the end of 2023 because Congress hasn’t passed the request Biden initially sought back in October 2023.
Both Ukrainian and U.S. officials have warned that Russia could secure a series of battlefield victories following the victory in Avdiivka ahead of a spring offensive.
The Russian forces are conducting “a cohesive multi-axis offensive operation in pursuit of an operational significant objective for nearly the first time in over a year and a half,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, reported last week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last weekend, “The next few months are going to be difficult for us,” and he acknowledged his country has suffered an estimated 31,000 military deaths since the war began. He also warned that Russia could commence its latest military offensive as soon as May.
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Russian officials have continued to say their long-term goals are to complete the seizure of Ukraine and topple the government.
“Where to stop? I don’t know. Will it be Kiev?” Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev told Russian state media outlets last week, using Moscow’s preferred pronunciation of the city’s name. “Yes, it should probably be Kiev as well. If not now, then sometime later, probably during some other stage of this conflict’s development.”