PARIS, March 2. /TASS/. The possible deployment of Western troops to Ukraine is considered to be a way to put pressure on Russia, France’s Le Monde newspaper writes.
The paper points out, citing sources, that France has been denying that its conventional forces, whether in uniform or not, are present in Ukraine. Paris has only tacitly admitted the presence of Directorate General for External Security agents in Ukraine, notably from the services specializing in operations in crisis zones. However, neither their number nor missions have been the subject of public reports; even the possible death of some of them remains in the realm of plausible deniability, Le Monde said.
"The actions of these services are by their very nature clandestine, and therefore outside the law of war," Vincent Crouzet, a former DGSE employee, said, according to the paper.
Meanwhile, the newspaper’s sources noted that the military servicemen under the command of the General Staff of the French Armed Forces had never crossed Ukraine’s border, only training Ukrainian troops, particularly in Poland. However, French President Emmanuel Macron does not rule out the deployment of the country’s special forces to Ukraine, although not in large military units but small groups of instructors.
This is first and foremost considered as a way to create "a strategic dilemma" for Russia, Le Monde writes. The training that the French would like to provide to Ukrainians particularly concerns ground-based air defenses as these facilities often come under Russian fire, the paper said, adding that the presence of soldiers from France or other counties would potentially make some Ukrainian areas safe, while seriously impeding Moscow’s unhindered targeting efforts.