Even if French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that sending Western troops to Ukraine could not “be ruled out,” Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair dismissed the idea on Tuesday.
“We will continue to provide the military assistance Ukraine needs, but as a member of NATO, Canada does not intend to deploy combat troops to Ukraine,” said Mr. Blair. , in a written statement sent by his office.
The United States and kyiv’s European allies also rejected Mr. Macron’s comments. “US President Joe Biden has been clear that he will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. An official from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also rejected this possibility.
At the end of an international conference in support of Ukraine held on Monday, the French head of state recognized that there was “no consensus today to send in an official, assumed and endorsed manner troops on the ground. “But in dynamics, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything necessary to ensure that Russia cannot win this war,” he added, saying he was “assuming” a “strategic ambiguity”.
The advisor to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak, welcomed Emmanuel Macron’s exit. “It’s a good sign,” he told Agence France-Presse. “The French president’s statement clearly takes the discussion to another level,” he said, admitting that this option was at this stage “only a proposal for discussion.”
For his part, the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, warned Ukraine’s allies. It is “absolutely not in their interest” to send soldiers to Ukraine, he stressed. According to him, the simple fact of evoking this possibility constitutes “a very important new element” in the conflict.
Military and financial aid
On Monday, Bill Blair took part in the international conference in support of kyiv organized in France. He reiterated “Canada’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine,” said his office. The latter recalled that Ottawa will provide “essential financial and military aid” to this country this year.
On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukrainian soil to participate in a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion, February 24, 2022.
After his visit to Hostemel airport, where one of the fiercest battles of the war took place, he signed a bilateral security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The deal includes some $320 million in new military spending, expected by the end of the year, as well as $2.4 billion in loans to Ukraine, which will be administered by the International Monetary Fund.
With Agence France-Presse