European countries discuss sending troops to Ukraine – Le Monde

As Donald Trump prepares to take office as president in January next year, there are growing discussions about whether the US should continue supporting Ukraine or pull out. Amid these discussions, there is increased talk about sending Western troops and using private defense companies in Ukraine.

Le Monde reports this, citing its own sources.

"Discussions are underway between Great Britain and France on defense cooperation, in particular, to create a "hardcore" between allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and European security in a broader sense," a British military source said.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron initiated the discussion on the deployment of troops to Ukraine at a meeting of allies in Paris in February, but it provoked strong resistance from some European countries, led by Germany.

"However, this scenario has not been buried. It has even been revived in recent weeks, thanks to the visit to France of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, on November 11," the authors of the article note.

They stress that the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Élysée Palace have not yet given the official green light to send troops or private service providers. But such proposals have been on the table for several months.

Among them is Défense Conseil International (DCI), the main operator of the Ministry of Defense for monitoring French contracts for arms exports, 55 percent of whose shares belong to the French state.

"DCI would be ready to continue training Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine, as is already done in France and Poland.

If necessary, it could also service French military equipment sent to Kyiv," the article says.

The resumption of discussions about sending Western troops or private contractors comes as Ukraine has received permission from the United States to use long-range missiles on Russian territory. However, according to the publication's sources, the Ukrainians cannot use the British Storm Shadow missiles and the French Scalp without some form of Western support on the ground.

"The missile must be programmed before it can be loaded onto the Su-24 bomber, which is in Ukraine," the publication writes.

To date, no information has been made public about Scalp strikes on military targets located in Russia.

As reported, France has no "red lines" regarding support for Ukraine. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot indirectly confirmed that Ukraine could strike Russia with French long-range missiles but did not say whether the French weapons had already been used.

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Previously, French leader Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, sparking a debate among Ukraine's allies.

Later, France explained that it was not about sending troops directly to participate in hostilities. Some NATO countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Canada, said they were ready to consider such an option.

Despite this, several other NATO member states have already stated that they are not considering sending their troops to Ukraine. The USA, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, etc. stated this.

It is worth adding that Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, noted that Western countries could send their military instructors to Ukraine for training. This could be the first step in Macron's initiative.