PRAGUE, March 4. /TASS/. France is not planning to send its troops to Ukraine in the near future, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
When asked to comment on the international response to his statements during last week’s conference on Ukraine in Paris, the French leader said, "Answering a question about sending troops, I said that nothing is ruled out."
"It doesn’t mean that we are planning to deploy French forces to Ukraine in the near future. It means that we are opening a discussion and are mulling over everything that can be done to support Ukraine, first of all, Ukraine’s territory," Macron said in an interview with the Czech newspaper Pravo.
According to the French president, participants in the meeting agreed on five cooperation areas, namely cybersecurity, joint production of military items for Ukraine, security assistance to most vulnerable countries in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, first of all, Moldova, support for Ukraine on its border with Belarus, and cooperation in mine clearance activity.
"Besides, I have always been clear about our red lines: we are not fighting against the Russian people and reject the logic od escalation," he stressed.
After a conference on Ukraine in the Paris on February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the participants had looked at sending ground troops to Ukraine. Although no consensus was reached on this topic, he left the door open for such a scenario in the future. After the conference, most of the participating counties pledged that they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight against Russia. French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on the following day that the presence of Western troops in Ukraine could be needed to offer certain types of assistance, for instance, in mine clearance operations and training of Ukrainian soldiers, but such presence would not envisage their participation in the conflict.