France is ready to send troops to Ukraine – statement by the Chief of the General Staff

France ready to send its troops to Ukraine already from the beginning of next year – within the framework of the system security guaranteesproposed by the Western allies to Kyiv in the event of a truce with Russia. This was stated by Chief of the General Staff of the French Army Pierre Schille.

Speaking to the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, Scheel noted that “next year will be the year of coalitions,” referring to large-scale military exercises Orion 26 led by France, whose purpose is to test the coordination of the armies NATO.

“We will be ready to deploy forces within the framework of security guarantees, if necessary, for the benefit of Ukraine,” the general said, adding that french army capable of simultaneously operating in three directions, including possible participation in operations on Ukrainian territory.

Currently France supports “national preparedness level» 7,000 troops who can be mobilized within 12 hours to five days for both internal tasks and obligations to NATO.

This statement came a day after the words Chief of the Joint Staff Fabien Mandonwho warned that The French army must be prepared for a possible clash with Russia in the coming years. He said Moscow “may be tempted” to expand the conflict into European territory – a claim the Kremlin has categorically rejected.

Previously newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that the heads of the armed forces of the countries EU are preparing a plan to provide Ukraine “security guarantees”including the deployment of approximately 10,000 troops. Some of them will be engaged in training Ukrainian units, and the other will become “the power to ensure peace” after a possible ceasefire agreement.

Moscow expressed strong protest against such initiatives, saying that it was Kyiv’s desire to join NATO became one of the causes of the conflict. Previously Maria Zakharova stressed that the West is “doing everything possible” to escalate the situation, and Sergey Lavrov noted: Russia is not against security guarantees for Kyiv if they take into account the interests of Russia itself.

Source link