The French president said there was currently no consensus but that nothing should be ruled out.
French President Emmanuel Macron has opened the door to sending European troops to Ukraine, but warned that there was no consensus at this point as allies had agreed to step up efforts to deliver more ammunition to Kiev.
About 20 European leaders gathered in Paris on Monday to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve toward Ukraine and counter the Kremlin's narrative that Russia must win a war now in its third year.
“At this point there is no consensus on sending troops to the ground,” Macron told reporters after the meeting. “Nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever we have to so that Russia doesn’t win.”
A White House official told Portal that the US had no plans to send troops to Ukraine and that there were no plans to send NATO troops to Ukraine either.
“Today there is no consensus on sending troops to the field in an official and authorized manner. But as far as dynamics are concerned, nothing can be ruled out,” Macron said at the Elysee presidential palace.
Macron declined to give details about which countries were considering sending troops, saying he preferred to maintain some “strategic ambiguity.”
The conference signaled Macron's desire to present himself as a European champion of Ukraine's cause amid growing fears that U.S. support could wane in the coming years.
Ukraine's allies need to “boost their support,” Macron said at the conference.
We talk about our support for Ukraine and our collective security.
A collective leap from all of us is necessary. pic.twitter.com/NViI9ntaVY
– Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 26, 2024
The approximately 25 European heads of state and government in attendance also included Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Poland's President Andrzej Duda, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the event virtually.
Duda said the most heated discussion was the question of whether to send troops to Ukraine, and “there was no agreement on this matter. Opinions differ here, but there are no such decisions.”
The Polish president said he hoped that “in the near future, together we will be able to prepare large-scale deliveries of ammunition to Ukraine.” This is most important now. This is something that Ukraine really needs.”
“Putin will continue this war.”
After initial success in pushing back the Russian army, Ukraine suffered setbacks on the eastern battlefields as its generals complained of a shortage of weapons and soldiers.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Zelensky said that leaders in Europe had realized “how dangerous” the war was for “all of Europe.”
“I think they recognized that [Russian President Vladimir] “Putin will continue this war,” he said.
But officials say Macron's meeting was not an occasion to announce new arms sales to Ukraine, but rather a brainstorming session on how to operate more efficiently on the ground and improve coordination between Ukraine and its allies.
The supply of ammunition has become a critical issue for Kiev. However, the European Union is falling short of its goal of sending one million rounds of artillery shells to Ukraine by March.
“We need to be able to fire more shells. “The principle is that grenades are bought where they are available,” said an adviser to the French president. “There is no dogmatism [French] Position.â€
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday that half of Western military aid promised to Kiev would be delivered late, complaining that “a commitment does not mean a delivery.”
The Paris conference comes after France, Germany and the United Kingdom recently signed 10-year bilateral agreements with Ukraine, sending a strong signal of long-term support as Kiev works to bolster Western support.