[Regnum] France has begun work on creating an alliance of countries ready, if necessary, to send their military personnel to Ukraine. Politico reported this on Saturday, March 9, citing sources.
“France is creating an alliance of countries open to the potential sending of Western troops to Ukraine, thereby deepening its confrontation with a more cautious Berlin,” the material says.
It is noted that on Friday, the head of the French Foreign Ministry, Stephane Sejournet, met in Lithuania with his counterparts from Ukraine and the Baltic countries to discuss the idea that foreign troops could help the Ukrainian side in areas such as demining territories. The head of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba was also present at the meeting.
As Regnum reported, on February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron said that at the summit of the leaders of the European Union and NATO, the possible dispatch of military personnel to the Ukrainian conflict zone was discussed. At the same time, he noted that the meeting participants were unable to agree on this due to disagreements that arose. Later, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the leaders of some EU countries, including Germany, Poland and Slovakia, said they denied the existence of such plans.
On March 7, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called on Western allies to send military training missions. In his opinion, a larger number of Western instructors will make it possible to more effectively train Ukrainian military personnel.
Press Secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov expressed confidence that if Western countries send military forces to Ukraine, a conflict between Russia and NATO will be inevitable. At the same time, he emphasized that the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance need to carefully weigh their decisions and understand how well they correspond to their interests.