Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called on allies to speed up support for Ukraine and send, among other things, training missions to the country.
He talked about this tells “European Truth”, during a speech at a video conference of the ministers of foreign affairs and defense of allied countries on supporting Ukraine. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the meeting participants to make decisions guided by two rules: faster and more.
Kuleba noted the need to produce and purchase more ammunition and missiles for Ukraine, as well as create opportunities for repairing damaged equipment in the country. He emphasized:
“If more effective and more Ukrainian military personnel can be trained in Ukraine, and not abroad, then such solutions are needed.”
The minister also noted the need to quickly increase the pace of weapons production in Europe to meet the needs of Ukraine and European partners. Kuleba called for removing all obstacles to the development and establishment of cooperation between European defense industries and allocating all the necessary resources to create new production capacities.
As you know, French President Emmanuel Macron stated last week that the possible dispatch of Western troops to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out.” After a summit in Paris on Monday, he allowed Western troops to be sent to Ukraine in the future, although he said there was no consensus among allies on the issue. He also announced that Ukraine’s allies would create a coalition to supply Kyiv with medium- and long-range missiles. He later added that his resonant words were carefully thought out.
The French president’s statements caused a negative reaction from the governments of allied countries, whose leaders rushed to assure that they would not send troops. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters after the Paris conference on support for Ukraine:
“As I have heard various comments from my colleagues on issues that may have been discussed in the room, I want to assure you that there is no question of sending forces, European NATO forces to Ukraine. This problem does not exist for Greece, and I think , does not exist for the vast majority of our colleagues.”
Moscow reacted angrily to Macron’s remarks, warning that the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine would inevitably lead to conflict between Russia and NATO.
Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu interview BFMTV said that now “we are not talking about sending ground troops to fight” in Ukraine, but at the same time allowed the presence of foreign troops as “instructors” or mine clearance specialists:
“Are there any plans for a military presence that are not possible? I’m thinking about demining and training Ukrainian soldiers on their own soil. We are no longer in the same situation as two years ago.”
Nobody wants to send ground troops to Ukraine, the defense ministers of Germany and Finland said. However, in their opinion, it is necessary to more actively support Ukraine with weapons and ammunition. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for a stop debates about the possible deployment of ground forces of Western countries in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Pistorius also questioned the importance of the discussion in Germany about the transfer of TAURUS cruise missiles to Ukraine. Long-range missiles will not solve this war, the minister noted. He also recalled the words of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the risk of Germany being involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine. “It is for this reason that TAURUS has not yet been delivered,” Pistorius said.
The head of the German Ministry of Defense pointed out the shortage of ammunition in Ukraine. “We must do everything we can around the world to collect, procure and produce everything we can to support Ukraine as best we can.” stated He.
Last Thursday, the Kremlin accused Emmanuel Macron of increasing France’s “direct participation” in the war. Asked about this statement, Lecornu stressed: “The history of France does not allow showing weakness. Maintaining a balance of power means not being weak and not escalating. We do not want to show weakness in front of Moscow.”
Leaders of French parliamentary parties on the morning of March 7 met with President Emmanuel Macron, who told them about the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine and how he sees French support for Kyiv, says Le Figaro.
According to comments from communist leaders Fabien Roussel and the far-right National Rally Jordan Bardella, Macron confirmed to them that he does not intend to set “any restrictions” or “no red lines” on French support. French Greens leader Marine Tondele, summing up Macron’s reasoning, said that “setting limits on ourselves” would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a “comparative advantage.”
“The president spoke very seriously about the need to quickly mobilize additional resources to combat the Russian threat in Ukraine,” Bertrand Panchet, one of the politicians present at the meeting, told Le Figaro.
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