The UK and France have “reactivated” talks on sending troops to Ukraine, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday. The idea has already caused a rift among European NATO members.
Back in February, French President Emmanuel Macron caused controversy by declaring his willingness to send ground troops to Ukraine “to prevent Russia from winning this war.” The statement was quickly disavowed by NATO officials, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters that Ukraine’s Western backers were “unanimous” in their opposition to the idea.
The plan was seemingly shelved, Le Monde has reported, until British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Paris earlier this month. Citing anonymous sources, the French newspaper claimed that talks on a possible Franco-British deployment to Ukraine were “reactivated” by Starmer and Macron.
No further information was provided, and Le Monde speculated that this deployment could range from both nations sending private-sector technicians to repair military equipment (as Britain already does), to private military contractors (as Russia insists that France does), to flag-wearing personnel on the ground, either on the front line or to enforce an eventual ceasefire and peace deal.
British and French officials have both suggested that some sort of deployment could be in the works. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told British state broadcaster the BBC this weekend that Paris is “not ruling out any option” when asked directly about the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine.
A British military source told Le Monde that “discussions are underway between the United Kingdom and France regarding defense cooperation, particularly with the aim of creating a core group of allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and broader European security.”
Russia has long claimed that Western special forces personnel are active in Ukraine, and Russian President Valdimir Putin has noted that Ukraine cannot fire long-range missiles into Russian territory without the assistance of Western experts.
When American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles were used in attacks on internationally-recognized Russian territory last week, Putin warned that the Ukraine conflict had “assumed elements of a global nature.”
Western media outlets have been reticent to mention the role of NATO personnel in assisting these attacks. However, Le Monde admitted that “it is not possible for the Ukrainians to use this type of missile without some form of Western support on the ground.” France has given Ukraine permission to use its Storm Shadow (called the SCALP-EG in France) cruise missiles in long-range strikes on Russia, but it is unclear if they have actually been used yet.
Russia reserves the right to strike the military facilities of countries that allow their weapons to be used against it, Putin continued, adding that “there will always be a response” to attacks on Russian soil.
The Russian military responded to the ATACMS and Storm Shadow strikes by firing a new hypersonic ballistic missile – the nuclear-capable Oreshnik – at a Ukrainian military industrial facility in Dnepropetrovsk.