France has no plans to send its troops to Ukraine in the near future, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
Asked to comment on the international response to his statements during a conference on Ukraine in Paris last week, the French leader reiterated that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to sending troops.
“This does not mean that we are planning to deploy French forces to Ukraine in the near future. It means that we are opening a discussion and thinking about everything that can be done to support Ukraine, first of all, Ukrainian territory,” Macron told the Czech newspaper “Pravo”.
According to the French president, the meeting participants agreed on five areas of cooperation – cyber security, joint production of military equipment for Ukraine, security assistance to the most vulnerable countries in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, support for Ukraine on the border with Belarus and cooperation in demining activities.
“In addition, I have always been clear about our red lines: we are not fighting against the Russian people and we reject the logic of escalation,” Macron stressed.
He said after a conference on Ukraine in Paris on February 26 that participants considered sending ground troops to Ukraine. Although no consensus was reached on this topic, Macron left the door open for such a scenario in the future.
