“Discussions have been renewed against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Discussions have been renewed against the background of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January 2025, who may stop Washington’s aid to Kyiv.
Le Monde reminds that in February, when French President Emmanuel Macron publicly spoke about the possible sending of Western troops to Ukraine, it caused “sharp opposition” from some countries, primarily Germany. In recent weeks, such discussions have resumed, in particular, during the visit to France of the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Keir Starmer.
“Great Britain and France are negotiating defense cooperation, including the creation of an allied strike force in Europe focused on Ukraine and European security in general,” a British military source told the publication.
The newspaper also reminds of the recent statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Jean-Noel Barro, who said in an interview with BBC News that there are no “red lines” in the matter of supporting Ukraine. Asked if this could mean French troops taking part in hostilities, he said France “doesn’t rule out any option”.
“We will support Ukraine as intensively and as long as necessary. Why? Because our safety is at stake. Every time the Russian army advances one square kilometer, the threat becomes one square kilometer closer to Europe,” Barro said.
Commenting on the publication of Le Monde, the spokesman of the President of Russia, Dmytro Peskov, said that the Kremlin does not know how true these reports are.
“But earlier, of course, such ideas were voiced from various European capitals. But various counterarguments were also expressed. Therefore, there is no unity of opinion among Europeans on this matter, but some hot heads arise,” Mayak radio quoted him as saying.
At the end of February 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that European countries could send troops to Ukraine. He noted that European countries “at this stage” do not have a consensus on sending troops. Jens Stoltenberg, who at that time held the post of NATO Secretary General, said that “there are no plans to deploy NATO combat units in Ukraine.”
In May, Macron again allowed Western troops to be sent to Ukraine. “If the Russians had broken through the front line, if a request from Ukraine had arrived – which is not the case today – we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question. Therefore, I think that excluding it a priori means not learning lessons from the last two years,” he said.