Russian warnings of nuclear escalation deter NATO members from sending troops to Ukraine

By lauraharris // 2024-03-05

Mastodon

Parler

Gab

Copy

Several European member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have put out statements confirming that they will not be sending troops to Ukraine amid fears of being dragged into a wider conflict with nuclear-armed Russia. On Feb. 27, the Kremlin warned that a conflict between Russia and the United States-led NATO military alliance would be inevitable if European members of NATO sent troops to fight in Ukraine. This warning was published a day after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that European countries might send soldiers to Ukraine.

"The very fact of discussing the possibility of sending certain contingents to Ukraine from NATO countries is a very important new element. In that case, we would need to talk not about the probability but about the inevitability [of a direct conflict]," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He added that the West should ask themselves if such a scenario is in the interests of their countries and their people.

NATO members, particularly European military heavyweight Germany, clarified that there was unanimous agreement among participants in the recent conference in Paris from more than 20 Western backers of Ukraine that they would not deploy ground troops to Ukraine. He said soldiers from these countries would not actively participate in the conflict. Donald Tusk, Petr Fiala and Robert Fico, the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, respectively, affirmed that they are not considering sending troops. "Poland does not plan to send its troops to Ukraine," said Tusk. "[My country] certainly doesn't want to send its soldiers," said Fiala. Fico said his government has no plans either, but claims that some other countries are considering it. In an interview with the Associated Press, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also made a similar statement. "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," Stoltenberg said. Sending and keeping troops in Ukraine would require strong transportation and logistics, which only a few NATO members can provide, including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and maybe Italy, Poland and Spain. In other words, NATO's involvement would require unanimous agreement from all 31 member states. (Related: U.K. deploys troops to NATO military drills while ramping up aid to Ukraine.)

French government clarifies Macron's earlier statement to send troops to Ukraine

Macron looked isolated from the other NATO members after he said that sending Western ground troops to Ukraine could not be "ruled out." In an attempt to clarify the earlier statement, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on Feb. 27 that the president was considering sending troops for specific tasks, such as mine clearance, on-site weapon production and cyber defense. Sejourne clarified that this would not entail sending troops to wage war against Russia but rather a military presence to address specific needs “[This] could require a [military] presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of fighting. It’s not sending troops to wage war against Russia," Sejourne told French lawmakers. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu also clarified that discussions at the conference revolved around de-mining and military training operations in Ukraine, away from the front lines, rather than the deployment of ground troops. UkraineWitness.com has more stories about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and NATO's involvement. Watch the video below that talks about NATO cutting off weapons supply to Ukraine as Poland accuses Kyiv of committing Nazi war crimes. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

CITIZENS NEWS

French government clarifies Macron's earlier statement to send troops to Ukraine

More related stories: