French President Emmanuel Macron does not exclude sending NATO troops to Ukraine for security in Europe and for Russia's defeat in the conflict. There is currently no consensus on the need to send NATO troops to the country, but nothing can be ruled out in the future, Macron added.
He also added that such a possibility was discussed among the options at the conference for the support of Ukraine in Paris. Russia needs to be defeated in Ukraine to ensure security and stability in Europe, the French President said.
The European Union agreed to create a "deep strike coalition,” which refers to the supply of medium- and long-range missiles to Kyiv.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of La France Insoumise party, said that one needs to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict and begin negotiations.
"A war against Russia would be madness. This verbal belligerent escalation of one nuclear power against another major nuclear power is already an irresponsible act,” Mélenchon wrote on X commenting on Emmanuel Macron's statements.
The head of the committee on public diplomacy and interethnic relations of the Parliament of Crimea, Yuri Hempel, said that France's decision to send troops to Ukraine would be a huge historical mistake.
He compared Macron's statements "to the rhetoric of a war criminal who wants conflicts and victims." According to Hempel, Russia will respond to any aggressor who encroaches on its security.
Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a conflict between Russia and NATO would be inevitable if Western countries send troops to Ukraine.
"In this case, we need to talk about inevitability, but not probability [of the war between Russia and NATO]. This is how we evaluate it,” Peskov told reporters Feb. 27.
NATO countries should evaluate the consequences of such decisions, Peskov said. They should also ask themselves whether this meets the interests of their citizens.
Poland is not going to send its soldiers to Ukraine, Deputy Minister of National Defense of the Republic Cezary Tomczyk said.
"There is no such project or idea in Poland,” Tomczyk said on Polsat TV channel.
Sweden does not consider such an opportunity either, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
"Right now we are fully engaged in sending advanced means from Sweden to Ukraine in various ways, as many other countries are doing… Ukraine is not demanding this either (sending troops). This issue is not relevant,” he said on Swedish TV channel SVT.
"The French tradition is not the Swedish tradition. I respect France's desire to help Ukraine. We are helping Ukraine in a different way now, providing advanced means to them,” the Swedish Prime Minister said.
On February 26, Western leaders gathered at the Elysee Palace to discuss assistance to Ukraine. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that a number of EU and NATO countries were considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements.
"I'm afraid that the West is heading towards [making] the worst possible decision regarding Ukraine,” he said adding that he would not let the Slovak military be involved in the fighting in Ukraine.