French President Emmanuel Macron has not ruled out the possibility of European Union member states sending troops into Ukraine to stave off Russia’s invasion as the war enters its third year.
"There is no consensus at this stage ... to send troops on the ground," Macron told reporters. "Nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we must so that Russia does not win."
Macron made the comments as some 20 European leaders gathered in Paris on Monday to show a unified front against the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin while lending their support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has opposed military aid to Ukraine, said several NATO and EU members were considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, although he warned that it could lead to an escalation of tensions.
"I can confirm there are countries that are prepared to send their own troops to Ukraine, there are countries that say never, among which Slovakia belongs, and there are countries that say this proposal needs to be considered," he said before boarding his plane home, according to Reuters.
It comes as the Kremlin insists that it will eventually win the war following the recent capture of the key battleground town of Avdiivka in the east of the country, which could pave the way for a Russian advance.
Ukraine, meanwhile, faces acute shortages of ammunition with U.S. military aid delayed for months in Congress.
During Tuesday’s meetings, at least 15 countries said they would agree to buy hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds to be sent to Ukraine.
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Earlier this month, the European Union agreed on a €50 billion ($54 billion) financial aid package to Ukraine and Macron said that Europe should not depend on the U.S. to fight in Ukraine.
"Many people who say 'Never, never' today were the same people who said 'never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles' two years ago," Macron said.
"Let us have the humility to note that we have often been six to twelve months late. This was the objective of this evening’s discussion: everything is possible if it is useful to achieve our objective."
Zelenskyy addressed the gathering via video link and stressed that a Russian victory would threaten the security of Europe.
"We must ensure that Putin cannot destroy our achievements and cannot expand his aggression to other nations."
Reuters contributed to this report.
