PARIS, February 18. /TASS/. The issue of sending European troops to Ukraine is not on the agenda as of now, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud said.
"This is not under discussion. And no one has ever said they intend to send troops to Ukraine today. We say that we want peace," he told France Info TV.
Barraud said that discussing EU security guarantees for Ukraine was also premature.
"What can these guarantees be? It's too early to talk about this," the minister noted. "This issue will arise when the time is right, when peace is secured."
He declined to comment further on troop stationing in Ukraine, saying that "such hot statements are not made in the media."
French President Emmanuel Macron held an informal meeting in Paris on February 17 with the leaders of Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. The presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, as well as the NATO Secretary General, were invited to the meeting. Before the meeting, the Elysee Palace said that the talks should consider, in particular, "security guarantees that can be provided to Ukraine."
Earlier, in an article he contributed to The Daily Telegraph, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send troops to Ukraine as security guarantees for Kiev to resolve the conflict. However, he conditioned the possible deployment on guarantees from the United States. This would require, according to him, "the unequivocal support of Washington." Next week, during a visit to Washington, he intends to discuss with US President Donald Trump "the key elements of a long-term peace.".