Paris
CNN
—
French President Emmanuel Macron has openly discussed the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to help Kyiv win the war against Russia, a potential major escalation to the largest ground war Europe has seen since World War II.
Though the possibility of Western democracies putting boots on the ground in Ukraine remains remote, Macron’s comments following a summit in support of Ukraine prompted a hawkish response from the Kremlin and sent European leaders scrambling to backtrack. A NATO official told CNN the alliance had “no plans” to deploy combat troops in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who attended the meeting in Paris on Monday, said that while there was a good debate and detailed discussion on the topic, summit participants were “unanimous” in their opinion against deploying troops
Macron had told reporters at a news conference that while he and the other 21 European leaders present did not agree on deploying military personnel, the prospect was discussed openly.
“Nothing should be ruled out,” he said. “We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
However, a raft of European officials came out Tuesday against such a plan. Among them were some of Ukraine’s more ardent supporters, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and Italy, as well as officials from Hungary and Slovakia, two countries whose leaders have been criticized as pro-Russian.
“What was agreed among ourselves and with each other from the very beginning also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states,” said Scholz.
