US, Germany, Poland, and other NATO members affirm they are not sending troops to Ukraine

Europe, News, US March 1, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

NATO’s military heavyweights Germany, Poland, the U.S., and several other European governments have released their stance on the matter of sending troops to Ukraine in a statement. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg also clarified that the Alliance does not have any intentions of sending ground forces to Ukraine.

The debate about sending ground forces to Ukraine started earlier this week when French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that sending European troops to Ukraine should not be “ruled out”. Macron’s statement surfaced after the conference of top officials from more than 20 of Ukraine’s Western backers in Paris.

The French President Macron finds himself isolated for his statement which stirred quite a controversy on both national and international scale. Macron is facing severe criticism from the opposition leaders within France for his suggestion of potential ground troop involvement. His government made efforts to clarify his statements a day after the conference.

Macron’s statement also raised several eyebrows in Moscow as Russian officials swiftly warned that any direct involvement in the war could provoke a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu explained that although discussions had taken place at the conference, there was no consensus regarding the execution of de-mining and military training operations in Ukraine, specifically away from the front lines.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the reporter that “NATO allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. We have done that since 2014 and stepped up after the full-scale invasion. But there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”

German Chancellor Olaf Schulz, who was present in Paris earlier this week to attend the conference hosted by the French President, said that the participants of the conference agreed “that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil who are sent there by European states or NATO states.”

Scholz said there was also consensus “that soldiers operating in our countries also are not participating actively in the war themselves.”

During his visit to Prague, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk also cleared his government’s stance on the issue saying, “Poland does not plan to send its troops to Ukraine.” Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic insisted that his country “certainly doesn’t want to send its soldiers.”

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has said his government is not planning any deployment in Ukraine, but that some countries were weighing whether to strike bilateral deals to provide troops to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion. Fico maintained a strategic ambiguity in mentioning the European leaders, apart from Macron, who might be supporting sending troops to Ukraine.

The White House also stated its stance on the matter saying that the United States would not send troops to fight in Ukraine. President Joe Biden “has been clear that the U.S. will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

*^{German Marder infantry fighting vehicles on their way to Ukraine. (Image Credit: Twitter/@UkraineInTouch)}*

The U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said that the only U.S. military personnel present in Ukraine are the troops that are serving in the American embassy in Kyiv. Kirby denied that U.S. troops could be sent for demining, arms production, or cyber operations, as some statements from French officials suggested.

He added that it would be a “sovereign decision” for France or any other NATO country whether to send troops to Ukraine.