There are military personnel from Western countries in Ukraine, but this is not officially recognized. The newspaper reported this on February 27 Financial Times (FT) citing a senior European defense official.
“Everyone knows that there are Western special forces in Ukraine, they just haven’t announced it officially,” the newspaper quoted a senior European military official.
The official added that French President Emmanuel Macron's statement was aimed at “creating deterrence and uncertainty” in relations with Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of sending his troops to Ukraine on February 26. However, he noted that the final solution had not been reached. The French leader also added that “nothing can be ruled out in the development of the situation.”
This possibility was later denied in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Great Britain and Germany. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also spoke out against it. In addition, Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, stated that there are no such plans.
Also on February 27, the United States announced that there were no plans to send troops to Ukraine. It was noted that President Joe Biden had previously made it clear that the United States would not send troops to participate in military operations in Ukraine.
The official representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said on February 27 that the organization responded to Macron’s words, calling for avoiding inflammatory rhetoric around the conflict in Ukraine.
Later, the head of the French Ministry of Defense, Sebastien Lecornu, clarified that Macron’s words that he does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine are not an attempt to start a war against Russia. He added that not ruling something out is not weakness or escalation.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kiev against the backdrop of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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