The White House has dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that Western troops could be sent to Ukraine to assist in Kyiv's increasingly difficult war against Russia.
Macron said during a meeting in Paris on Monday that "nothing should be excluded" when it came to backing Ukraine in its two-year fight to ward off invading forces, claiming to a crowd of pro-Ukraine backers that there was "no consensus at this stage" about putting Western boots on the ground.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday that President Joe Biden was "crystal-clear" in his opposition to sending U.S. or NATO troops to Ukraine, a move that could obligate the strategic alliance to fight Russia and spark the beginning of a world war.
Kirby said that the possibility of France or other NATO nations sending troops to Ukraine was a "sovereign decision that every NATO ally would have to make for themselves," while also pointing out that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg already said that the alliance would not be sending troops.
"You heard Secretary General Stoltenberg say himself he had no plans or intentions, certainly under NATO auspices, of putting troops on the ground," said Kirby. "And President Biden has been crystal-clear since the beginning of this conflict: There will be no troops on the ground in a combat role, there in Ukraine."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email on Tuesday night.
U.S. Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense, made similar remarks during a separate press conference on Tuesday, saying that "we have no plans to send U.S. service members to fight in Ukraine" and "the president has been pretty clear on that."
Prior to the dismissal from the Biden administration, leaders from several other NATO member countries—including Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic—abruptly shot down the idea of sending troops to Ukraine.
However, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday that "a number of NATO and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis," without naming the countries that were purportedly considering the move.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that NATO combat troops arriving in Ukraine would foretell the "inevitability" of "a direct conflict between NATO and Russia."
Peskov argued that NATO nations "should also assess" the consequences of sending troops to decide "whether this corresponds to their interests" and "most importantly, to the interests of the citizens of their countries."
Ukraine has suffered a series of setbacks following a decrease in military aid from Western allies. Recent losses have included control of the Dontesk city of Avdiivka after several months of fighting, while at least three additional settlements close to the city were lost on Monday and Tuesday alone.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
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