Two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, French President Macron brought together over twenty Western leaders at a conference of allied countries for support for Ukraine on Monday 27 February at the Elysée Palace.Among the participants in the conference in Paris were German Chancellor Scholz, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez, British Foreign Minister Cameron, representatives of Canada, Poland and the United States and, for Italy, the Deputy Foreign Minister.In front of more than twenty heads of state and government, the President of the French Republic underlined that "today the security of all of us is at stake. We have seen, especially in recent months, a worsening of Russia", also manifested in the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny.“We are undoubtedly in a moment where a relaunch is needed from everyone,” Macron said, adding that this implies strong decisions to do more to support Kiev against Russia.From Kiev, Ukrainian President Zelensky participated in the video link of the conference and expressed gratitude for the European Union but wanted to underline with the same allies gathered in Paris that "of the millions of bullets that the European Union has promised us, unfortunately It wasn't 50 percent that arrived, but 30." Zelensky recalled the victory against Russia depends on the West.
Macron: I don't rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to support KievIn reaffirming France's commitment to Kiev, at the end of the conference in Paris, Macron went so far as to declare in a press conference: "Today there is no consensus on the sending of ground troops in an official, obvious and approved way . But nothing can be ruled out in the dynamics. We will do everything necessary so that Russia cannot win this war."Sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine should not "be ruled out" despite there being no consensus on the possibility at this stage: Reactions to the hypothesis of sending Western troopsThe hypothesis of sending troops finds firm opposition from countries such as the United States, Germany and also Italy, as well as that of the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg. With Russia warning: “If that were the case, war would be inevitable.”Olaf Scholz, while present in Paris, embraced the American line, guaranteeing that "no soldiers" will be sent to Ukraine by European or NATO countries: "What was decided between us from the beginning continues to be valid for the future , there will be no troops on the ground, nor soldiers sent by European states or NATO states on Ukrainian soil”The European Union, for its part, is keen to point out that if a deployment of troops were to materialise, this has not been decided in Brussels: "We are aware of public statements by some Member States according to which the deployment of troops could be considered of land in Ukraine – said EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano – This has not been discussed at EU level. The EU policies in the European Council conclusions speak very clearly. The EU is committed to supporting Ukraine and will do everything possible. As for the form and manner of national contributions, they are a prerogative of the sovereignty and competence of each member state".
