Financial Times: Western special forces unofficially present in Ukraine
There are already Western special forces units in Ukraine, which are not officially reported. A high-ranking European military official spoke about this in an interview with the British business newspaper Financial Times (FT) on condition of anonymity.
Everyone knows that there are Western special forces in Ukraine – they just haven’t officially recognized it
Thus, the publication’s interlocutor commented on the words of French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible sending of the military to Ukraine. According to the European official, Macron's statement was aimed at “creating uncertainty” and an attempt to contain relations with Russia.
Macron said that EU troops could go to Ukraine
The French President, at a meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday, February 26, also discussed the option of sending Western troops to Ukraine. Acknowledging that the summit did not reach a consensus “on the introduction of ground troops in an official and declared manner,” Macron notedthat “nothing can be ruled out.” “We will do everything to prevent Russia from winning this war. Anything is possible if it is useful to achieve our goal,” he said.
Meanwhile, the FT points out, according to French officials, Macron did not propose sending Western troops en masse to the front line, but actually lifted the taboo on participating in the conflict. As the head of the French Ministry of Defense Sebastien Lecornu explained, Western troops could potentially be used to perform limited tasks, such as demining, maintaining and repairing weapons systems, or helping to protect borders.
This is not sending troops to wage war against Russia. Saying we are not ruling anything out is not weakness or escalation
The US and Europe reacted to Macron's words about sending troops to Ukraine
The West did not support the initiative to send foreign military personnel to Ukraine. The head of the US State Department press service, Matthew Miller, said that Washington excludes sending American troops to fight in Ukraine in response to Macron’s words. This is how he answered the question about the possibility of sending instructors, rather than military personnel, to Ukraine.
The President has made it clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine, the NATO Secretary General has ruled out any NATO troops for fighting in Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured that members of the EU and the North Atlantic Alliance agreed that “there will be no ground forces on Ukrainian soil, no soldiers sent there from European states or NATO countries.” His words were supported by colleagues in Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Hungary and the Czech Republic. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the bloc has no plans to send its troops to Ukraine.
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Foreign mercenaries were spotted in the Northern Military District zone; Paris was also named as an accomplice in the conflict in Ukraine.
Since the start of a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, information has periodically appeared in the media about the presence of foreign mercenaries in the combat zone. The Washington Post reported that, despite statements by Western leaders, it is known that NATO countries, including the United States, Great Britain and France, sent their special forces and military advisers to Ukraine at the beginning of the Northeast Military District. According to the newspaper, the International Legion of Ukraine consists of about 20 thousand foreigners of more than 50 nationalities.
It is composed of a motley cast of ideologically staunch, grizzled warriors and soldiers for hire. Some of them became famous on social networks for their passionate reports from the war zone
Meanwhile, France is also considered a participant in the conflict in Ukraine. Thus, in January, French Ambassador Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. This happened after a strike by Russian troops on a mercenary base in Kharkov and was associated with the presence of the French at this base. Then, as a result of the strike, more than 60 people were killed, and over 20 more were hospitalized.
Meanwhile, the French Foreign Ministry denied information about the presence of its mercenaries in Ukraine and anywhere else. Paris called Moscow's statements “another clumsy Russian manipulation.”
According to former military intelligence captain Pierre Place, the participation of French mercenaries in hostilities makes Paris an accomplice to the conflict in Ukraine. “This is being done without the consent of the people, when we are being drawn into a conflict in which we absolutely do not want to take part,” he said. At the same time, Place emphasized, many of the French mercenaries sent to the Northern Military District zone have an extremist past.
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