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Emmanuel Macron: “We will do everything necessary to ensure that Russia cannot win this war”

Photo: Thibault Camus / AP

The proposal to possibly send Western soldiers to Ukraine is causing quite a stir.

France's Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné has now somewhat corrected President Emmanuel Macron's statements about the possible deployment of ground troops.

Séjourné said in the French National Assembly that new means of support must be considered that respond to very precise needs.

He is thinking primarily of cyber defense, the production of weapons in Ukraine and mine clearance.

"Some of these actions may require a presence on Ukrainian territory without reaching the belligerent threshold," he said.

Séjourné emphasized: "In view of the Russian attacks and the destabilization of Europe they cause, support for Ukraine must increase." The question of ammunition deliveries is urgent.

You have to act in a coordinated manner in order to produce more and deliver new capabilities.

For Lithuania, the deployment of Western ground troops in Ukraine is conceivable

Lithuania is not fundamentally opposed to the idea of ​​deploying Western ground troops in Ukraine.

Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas did not rule out the possibility that the Baltic EU and NATO country could send soldiers to the country attacked by Russia.

At the same time, he emphasized that this would only be an option for training purposes, not for participation in combat operations.

An advisor to President Gitanas Nauseda also said about a possible training mission for Lithuanian soldiers in Ukraine: “We are talking about this possibility and doing so openly.

There are many nuances about what could happen and under what conditions." Supporting Ukraine with weapons and ammunition remains the main priority for now, he said, according to a report by the BNS agency.

A clear no from EU states and the USA

Meanwhile, NATO reiterates that the defense alliance has "no plans" for "combat troops" in Ukraine - a position shared by many EU countries.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his country had no plans to "send our troops to Ukraine" and that it had a common position with the Czech Republic on this point.

"We must concentrate today on fully supporting Ukraine."

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the possible sending of Western soldiers to Ukraine "not an issue" at the moment.

The governments of Spain and Italy also clearly opposed sending ground troops to Ukraine.

The USA in particular rejects Macron's initiative.

The United States will not send troops to fight in Ukraine, the White House said.

“President Biden has made it clear that the United States will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

Macron did not rule out the use of ground troops on Monday evening after a meeting of more than 20 heads of state and government to support Ukraine in the fight against Russia.

"There is no consensus today about officially sending ground troops," said Macron.

»But nothing can be ruled out in the dynamic.

We will do whatever it takes to prevent Russia from winning this war.”

eru/dpa/AFX/AFP