French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged this Monday (26) the possibility that European countries could send troops to Ukraine, but warned that there was no consensus on this measure. The Allied countries agreed to increase their efforts to deliver more ammunition to Kiev.
Around 20 European leaders met in Paris yesterday to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Europe's resolve on Ukraine and to counter the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is destined to win a war that is already invaded its territory in the third year.
“At this point there is no consensus on sending troops,” Macron said. “Nothing should be excluded. We will do everything necessary to ensure that Russia does not win.”
A White House official told Portal that the United States (US) had no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine, nor were there any plans to send North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops.
Macron invited European leaders to a hastily organized meeting at the Elysee Palace to discuss expanding deliveries of military materials to Ukraine. Aides say there has been an escalation of aggression from Russia in recent weeks.
After initial success in containing the Russian army, Ukraine suffered setbacks on the battlefields in the east as its generals complained of a shortage of weapons and soldiers.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who opposed military aid to Ukraine, said several NATO and European Union (EU) members are considering sending troops to Ukraine bilaterally.
“I can confirm that there are countries ready to send their own troops to Ukraine. There are countries that say never, including Slovakia, and there are countries that say this proposal must be considered,” he said before returning to Slovakia.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the favorite to become NATO's next secretary general, said the issue of troop deployment was not the focus of Monday's talks.
In a video call with the leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky backed Macron's warning about the escalating conflict: “We must ensure that Putin cannot destroy our achievements or extend his aggression to other nations.”
“Many people who say 'never, never' today were the same people who said two years ago: 'never tanks, never planes, never longrange missiles,'” Macron said.
“Let us accept the humility that we are often six to twelve months late. That was the aim of today's discussion: anything is possible if it is useful for achieving our goal,” the French president added. In his opinion, Europe should not have to rely on the USA to fight in Ukraine.
More ammo
Progress has been made in the Czech Republicled initiative to purchase hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and projectiles from other countries. France has been cautious in this regard as it wants to prioritize the development of its own European industry.
The supply of ammunition has become a critical issue for Kiev. The EU is not achieving its goal of sending one million artillery shells to Ukraine by March.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala reported that around 15 countries had agreed to join his initiative. Macron said Paris would do the same and that a coalition to speed up the delivery of longrange missiles had also been agreed.
“We are talking about hundreds of thousands of pieces of ammunition that we should and could acquire in a relatively short period of time,” Fiala told reporters.
The defense ministers have been tasked with presenting a plan within the next ten days, said Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa.
The United States, whose recent military aid package for Ukraine failed in Congress, was represented by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Jim O'Brien.
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