French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial intimation that Ukraine’s Western allies could send their troops to fight Russia “sends a signal” to both Kyiv and Moscow, says Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament.
“I believe that Macron’s statement that such an idea is being considered is such a taboo break that sends two signals. It sends a signal to Ukraine that Western allies are ready to help even more, and it also sends a signal to Russia that they will not leave Ukraine on its own,” Čmilytė-Nielsen told the Žinių Radijas radio station on Wednesday.
“Such discussions, if they are backed up by action, are important,” she added.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said on Tuesday that troops from NATO countries could be sent to Ukraine to train Ukrainians but not for combat operations.
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The issue of sending Western troops to Ukraine was discussed at a gathering of European leaders in Paris, as Russia’s full-scale invasion entered its third year.
Macron said after the meeting of over 20 European heads of state and government and other Western officials that “we will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war”.
“There’s no consensus today to send in an official, endorsed manner troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out,” he said.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the idea of European countries and NATO sending troops to Ukraine.
Italy said that international support for Ukraine does not include the presence of ground troops and warned against giving the impression of being at war with Russia.
Sweden, which is set to join NATO, said on Tuesday that it did not currently envision sending ground troops into Ukraine.
The Kremlin warned that confrontation with NATO will be inevitable if the alliance deploys its troops into the conflict, an important step the West has so far avoided.
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