European military heavyweights Germany and Poland say they will not send troops to Ukraine, after reports that some Western countries may be considering doing so as the war with Russia enters its third year.
The head of NATO also said the US-led military alliance had no plans to send troops to Ukraine, after other central European leaders confirmed that they too would not be providing soldiers.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned that a direct conflict between NATO and Russia would be inevitable if the alliance sent combat troops.
“In this case, we need to talk not about probability, but about the inevitability [of conflict],” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Moscow’s warning came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron said sending in Western ground troops should not be “ruled out” in the future, after hosting a conference of top officials from more than 20 of Ukraine’s Western backers.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared to have a different view of what happened in Paris.
He said the participants had agreed “that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil who are sent there by European states or NATO states”.
Mr Scholz said there was also consensus “that soldiers operating in our countries also are not participating actively in the war themselves”.
With Mr Macron increasingly looking isolated and opposition politicians in France furiously critical of his suggestion that ground troops might be considered, the French president’s government subsequently sought on Tuesday to clarify his comments.
French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu said there had been discussions but no consensus at the conference about carrying out de-mining and military training operations in Ukraine, away from the front lines.
“It’s not sending troops to wage war against Russia,” the minister said.
NATO aims to avoid escalation of war with Russia
The idea of sending troops has been taboo, particularly as NATO seeks to avoid being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Nothing prevents NATO members from joining such an undertaking individually or in groups, but the organisation itself would only get involved if all 31 members agree.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told The Associated Press 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.”
At a meeting in Prague on Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, “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 to propose a deployment, but that some countries were weighing whether to strike bilateral deals to provide troops to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion.
Mr Fico did not provide details about which countries or what the troops would do in Ukraine.
Mr Macron, also avoided naming any countries, saying he wanted to maintain “strategic ambiguity” and not tip the West’s hand to Russia.
NATO as an alliance provides Ukraine only non-lethal aid and support like medical supplies, uniforms and winter equipment, but some members send weapons and ammunition of their own accord, bilaterally or in groups.
A decision to send troops and keep them deployed long term would require the kind of transport and logistics capabilities that only countries like the US, UK, France, Germany and possibly Italy, Poland or Spain could muster.
While ruling out NATO military action, Mr Stoltenberg told AP “that this is a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine, blatantly violating international law”.
“According to international law, Ukraine of course has the right to self-defence, and we have the right to support them in upholding that right,” he said.
The conference in Paris was held just after France, Germany and the UK each signed 10-year bilateral security agreements with Ukraine as its government works to shore up Western support.
In an interview last week, Mr Stoltenberg did not oppose the idea of allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets in Russia.
Some countries have placed restrictions on the use of material they provide, asking that it is only used inside Ukraine.
“It’s for each and every ally to decide whether there are some caveats on what they deliver,” Mr Stoltenberg told Radio Free Europe.
But, he said, Ukraine’s right to self defence “includes also striking legitimate military targets, Russian military targets, outside Ukraine”.
European nations are worried the US will reduce its support, as aid for Ukraine is held up in congress.
They also have concerns that former president Donald Trump might return to the White House and change the course of US policy on the continent.
Several European countries, including France, expressed support on Monday for an initiative launched by the Czech Republic to buy ammunition shells for Ukraine outside the European Union, participants at the meeting said.
Mr Macron said a new coalition would be launched to deliver medium and long-range missiles./ ABC/AP