France Will Not Send Troops to Fight in Ukraine: FM Sejourne

March 1, 2024 Hour: 8:19 am

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephanie Sejourne announced that France will not be sending troops to Ukraine to carry out military operations.

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“French people will not die for Ukraine. We will not send troops for combat. The framework has been set, which is to prevent Russia from achieving victory without engaging in war with it,” he clarified.

Previously, he noted that the presence of French soldiers in Ukraine is intended to fulfill “non-combat tasks” and considered that the activity of Western military personnel in that European country would not signify complicity in the ongoing armed conflict.

On Feb. 26, President Emmanuel Macron said that the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine could not be ruled out. His statements generated strong criticism.

Maria Zakharova:

„Head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also the spouse of the Prime Minister of France, stated: “French people will not die for Ukraine. We will not send troops for combat. The framework has been set: to prevent Russia from achieving victory without… pic.twitter.com/gGHkikTgCW

— Zlatti71 (@djuric_zlatko)
March 1, 2024

“A possible military deployment that clearly does not meet with popular approval. A poll by the CSA Institute, conducted for CNEWS, Europe 1, and Le JDD, showed on Wednesday, February 28, that more than 3 out of 4 French people (76 percent) believe that French military troops should not be sent to Ukraine,” Scenari Economici reported.

For his part, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that “this is not a war with Russia.” Referring tacitly to Macron’s statements, he added that “saying ‘we do not rule anything out’ is neither a sign of weakness nor implies escalation.”

Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also expressed skepticism about the French president’s idea, arguing that the deployment of Alliance and European Union troops to Ukraine would only lead to an escalation of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov indicated that if Western countries send troops to Ukraine, direct confrontation between Russia and NATO would be inevitable.

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— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
January 31, 2024