NATO and Western Allies Rule Out Sending Military Troops to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. (Source: NATO)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a number of Western allies said they had no plans to send troops to Ukraine, following a signal from France about the possibility, triggering Moscow's warning of direct conflict with Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said his military alliance had no plans to send personnel to Ukraine.

"NATO allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. We have been doing that since 2014 and increased (support) after a full-scale invasion. But there are no plans to place NATO combat troops in Ukraine," he said, quoted from TASS, February 28.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday Western allies should not exclude any option in trying to prevent a Russian victory in Ukraine, although he stressed there was no consensus at this stage.

His comments, made at a meeting of European leaders in Paris on how to increase support for Kyiv, come amid advances by Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces in eastern Ukraine and growing shortages of ammunition and manpower on the Ukrainian side.

However, like NATO, the United States and major European allies have also said they have no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine.

Germany, Britain, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic distanced themselves from suggestions they might deploy ground troops to the war in Ukraine, now in its third year.

"There will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian territory sent there by European countries or NATO countries," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, citing Reuters.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also insisted on ruling out sending troops.

"Deploying ground troops is not an option for Germany," Defense Minister Pistorius told reporters during a visit to Vienna.

Separately, the White House later reiterated it also had no plans to send ground troops, urging US lawmakers to approve a stalled security assistance bill that would ensure Ukrainian troops get the weapons and ammunition needed to continue their fight.

In an attempt to clarify President Macron's statement, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the president intended to send troops for specific tasks such as assisting with mine clearance, on-site weapons production and cyber defense.

"(This) requires a (military) presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of combat," Sejourne told French lawmakers.

Asked about Macron's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "The fact of discussing the possibility of sending certain contingents to Ukraine from NATO countries is a very important new element."

When asked what the risk of a direct Russia-NATO conflict would be if NATO members sent their troops to fight in Ukraine, Peskov said: "In this case, we need to talk not about the possibility, but about the inevitability (of a direct conflict)."